


Hard Reset

by missmagillicuddy



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Bullying, Depression, F/F, F/M, Recreational Drug Use, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Underage Drinking, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 84,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26099059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missmagillicuddy/pseuds/missmagillicuddy
Summary: Max is not handling Chloe's death well. She has begun hurting herself again, she is very depressed and winds up in the hospital after a failed suicide attempt. While there, she finds out that her power's have grown, once again, and set's off to try and find out if she can bring back the woman she loves. Things may not go as easily as she plans.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Comments: 120
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Just a fair bit of warning, this will be a bit dark at first. Words in italics are internal monologue. Sorry if it’s crappy, it’s just a story that has been stuck in my head for a bit. It’ll be my first fan fiction. Trigger warnings – self mutilation, suicidal thoughts, rape, teen pregnancy, recreational drug use. Will add more if any come up.

Hard Reset

By MissMagillicuddy

Chapter 1

Monday October 28, 2013

_“Max Caulfield, don’t you forget about me”_

Max lay in her bed, clutching captain to her chest, as tears steadily streamed down her face. _The last words she ever spoke to me. As if I could ever forget her. It should have been me. I’m the one who created the storm. If one of us had to die, why wasn’t it me? Maybe if I had been a better friend, and kept contact over the years, she wouldn’t have been in that bathroom. I’m such a piece of shit._

“Why, Chloe,” Max rasped, before choking on another sob that shook her entire frame. Max felt as if she was suffocating, anxiety making her feel as if Chloe’s truck were resting on her chest. _How am I supposed to live with myself? How am I supposed to live without Chloe? Nathan may have pulled the trigger, but I am the one that chose to kill her. I murdered my best friend. We could have been so much more, but now she’s rotting in the ground next to William._

Max was glad that her parents were unable to see how she was fairing. She was living in despair, if you could call it living. She only left her dorm room for class, that she didn’t pay attention to, bathroom breaks, and when Kate dragged her to the cafeteria and tried getting her to eat. Her hair was often greasy, and the bags under her eyes made it look like she had been beaten by someone. She had been having difficulties sleeping since her mind merged back into her body before Chloe’s funeral. When her mind would finally shut down, and she would fall into a restless sleep, she dreamt over and over of what happened in the bathroom.

“Get that gun away from me, PSYCHO!”

BANG

Max shuddered. She could still picture the terror lancing through Chloe’s voice, as Nathan brought an end to her life. _Prick. I wish I could end him… and Jefferson._ As Max rolled onto her stomach, she realized that she had to go to the bathroom… fairly urgently. Max sighed, and slowly sat up at the edge of her bed. A quick glance around the room showed moonlight creeping through her window, making the shadows look sinister. Max glanced at her clock, wondering how soon she had to be ready for classes, assuming she didn’t decide to skip again. _Hmm, witching hour._ Max grabbed her phone, switching the screen on to pull up her flashlight, groaning as she saw 10 missed calls from “Mom”.

“Ugh, just let me be,” Max muttered, as she quietly slipped from her room, the flash on her phone lighting the empty hallway. Max scurried to the bathroom, trying to make the trip as quickly as possible, so she could get back to wallow in peace. Shoving her phone into the pocket of her hoodie, Max made quick work of her business, and made her way to the sink to wash her hands. As she pushed up her sleeves to keep them from getting wet in the water, her eyes were drawn to three perfectly straight cuts a few centimeters apart on her wrist. _At least everyone is already used to me wearing my jacket all the time, and I don’t have to answer questions about wearing long sleeves every day._

Max lightly ran her finger across one of the cuts, noting that it looked like it was starting to fade. Shaking herself out of her staring, Max grabbed one of the paper towels out of the dispenser, and dried her hands, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The petite brunette glared in spite at her reflection. She tended to avoid mirrors lately, going as far as to buy a can of spray paint, and cover the one in her bedroom with it. _I hate you. You are disgusting, and shouldn’t even be here. You are absolutely useless, and you should do everyone a favor, and just die. Mom and dad may miss you for a little bit, but they’ll get over it… maybe have another baby._

“I. HATE. YOU,” Max screamed loudly, before pulling back her arm, and slinging it into the face staring back at her from the mirror. The screaming and crashing woke her dormmates out of deep sleep, as they rushed to peek their heads out of their doors to try and figure out what was going on. As the mirror was cracking, Max was already drawing back her arm for another hit. She screamed as she released it, and smashed the mirror to bits. She didn’t even notice the blood dripping from her right hand, as her left reached for one of the large shards in the sink. She stepped away from the sink, cutting her feet on glass, as she slid to the floor against the wall, her breaths falling quickly from her lips. Max took a deep breath, and slowly lifted the shard to her wrist, dragging it from right to left two times. Max released her breath slowly, and lifted the shard to repeat the action a third time, but decided to do a vertical slice instead. _I can go be with Chloe, unless I wind up going to hell for Che’s murder._ Max readied herself, and pressed the shard down into the crook of her elbow and dragged toward her wrist. As the blood rapidly started streaming from that arm, she switched the glass to her other hand, and repeated the action on her left arm.

Max hardly heard when the door slowly inched open, and a blond head, with tired eyes peered around the door. Blue eyes, that widened in horror, while a horrified gasp escaped their lips, as the door crashed open the rest of the way.

“Max” Kate screeched, as she hurried into the room, skirting her way around the broken mirror and making her way to where Max sat on the ground, aware that others had followed behind her. Max was paying her no attention, just staring at her arms, watching the blood flow down them. Kate could hear Dana asking if anyone had their phone to call an ambulance, as she rushed to her room to grab some towels.

“Max,” Kate said softly as if speaking to a frightened toddler, “please put down the glass.” Kate whimpered as the freckled girl ignored her, before slowly reaching forward and grabbing Max’s wrist to try and catch her attention. Max seemed to come back to herself when she felt the hand on her arm, and slowly moved her gaze up.

“Kate? What are you doing here?” Max’s eyes widened as she looked up, and caught sight of the rest of her dorm mates crowding the door way, while Dana carefully came up behind Kate with a few towels. Her left hand slowly lowered the shard of glass to the ground, as she avoided eye contact with the two girls that came in to take care of her.

“I some towels to wrap around her wrists and hands. We need to wrap them tightly, and put as much pressure on the cuts as possible. I think we’re supposed to try to keep it above her heart. Hopefully that will help with the bleeding until an ambulance gets here,” The beautiful cheerleader said lightly, sniffling as a few tears escaped her eyes. “Is there someone you want me to call for you?”

With eyes still averted toward the ground, Max slowly shook her head. _This is so humiliating! Look at the loser freak losing her mind in the bathroom._ Max felt the shame started twisting her in gut, as the two girls worked stopping her bleeding. Max let out a quiet sob, as the anguish continued to rise in her shuddering body.

“Shhh, its okay Max,” Kate whispered tearily, while beginning to hum lightly to try and relax her, while trying to keep a tight grip on towel covered arm. “I’m here for you. I’ll help you get through this.” Kate was silently praying to God that Max would be okay. Had to be okay, because Max was there for her when almost everyone else wasn’t.

“Can you all please clear out, so the EMT’s have room to maneuver when they get here,” Dana requested, pointedly giving the gawkers in the doorway the stink eye. “… and I swear to God, if I see one video or photo of this online, I will destroy the person who posted it.”

Before Max knew it, the emergency responders had arrived, and had her loaded onto a gurney, while they wrapped her wrists, hands and feet in gauze, tight dressings and tape for transport to the hospital. She barely registered that there were two other responders checking on Kate and Dana, and requesting information about what had occurred. As she was wheeled out of the bathroom, she saw that there were still people peeking out at her from their dorm rooms. On the way out of the building, they passed a lot of students in the stairwell, as well as a group of teachers close to the exit of the courtyard.

_This is so embarrassing. Of course, everyone wants to see the crazy girl wheeled out of school. Take a picture! It’ll last longer!_

The ride to the hospital over before she knew it, and she was quickly wheeled into the emergency room. She couldn’t ignore the wide-eyed look when they removed her hoodie, and saw the multitude of cuts in different stages of healing, some fresh, some looking years old, with slightly faded scars. The doctors were checking her dressing’s, and doing some tests to check her blood levels. She was hooked up to machines, blood pressure was checked, and medication was given for sedation. Max ignored their questions, refusing to answer any of them, as she was wheeled up to the psych ward for suicide watch. She had been informed that the school had contacted her parent’s, and that they were on their way from Seattle to discuss treatment options. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was _Oh, great._

Wednesday October 30, 2013

The past 2 days were a blur to Max. Her parents had come into her hospital room, her dad trying to keep a stoic face, her mom already sobbing. They had asked over and over why she had been hurting herself again. She was sure they were remembering when they had caught her cutting in Seattle, just 6 months after moving there. She was remembering the counseling they had forced her to do, and the guilt they had felt when she admitted to the constant bullying that she had been enduring in school from the first day she appeared. She remembered how she started her daily journaling, because her psychologist recommended it as a way of coping with her depression and anxiety.

Her parents had yet to arrive that morning, as it was barely pushing 7 am, and visiting hours were still a few hours off. Max was slowly forcing her crappy, bland hospital breakfast down her throat, as she leafed through her current journal, which had been brought in with her camera bag when Kate and Dana came to see her the afternoon after “the incident.” Max had felt terribly guilty as she stared into Kate’s red, puffy, and tired eyes. Kate had wrapped her in a tight hug the second she saw her, sobbing softly.

“We were so worried about you,” Kate muttered, as she set Max’s bag on a chair next to her bed.

“I’m so sorry,” Max had apologized softly, returning Kate’s hug.

Max shook her head, to bring attention back to the journal, currently resting on her lap. _Let’s see. What entry do I want to look at?_

While she was flipping through her book, she came across the one dated July 10, 2013. _The day I got accepted to Blackwell._

**I GOT ACCEPTED INTO BLACKWELL ACADEMY.**

**If words could dance this world would be a rave. Even though I’ve never been to one. But who cares because I GOT INTO BLACKWELL ACADEMY! I didn’t think I’d be so excited si-**

Max felt her vision start going in and out of focus, and felt a slight spinning sensation in her head. _What the fuck? Is this some late side effect of my blood loss?_ Max shook her head a little bit, while taking deep breaths. Max looked back to her journal.

**I didn’t think I’d be so excited since it’s not like I didn’t used to live in the same town. But when I saw the text from Blackwell Scholarship Office, I could literally feel my pulse speed up.**

Max could feel her pulse speeding up, it seemed like the world was spinning, as the words almost felt like they were floating around her. Max closed her eyes, as she stated to feel dizzy, like her head was on a spinning top. As suddenly as the symptoms came, they were gone. Max took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.

_What. The. Fuck. What kind of Butterfly Effect movie rip off is this bullshit? First, I can travel through pictures, now my journal entries? What if that movie was based off of someone like me, who found they could travel through time?_

Max was seated at the desk in her bedroom back in Seattle. The day outside was a rare sunny day. She had her window open, a fan blowing in fresh air. Max found her phone on the desk next to her, and checked the date on it. July 10, 2013. 2:34 pm. She looked up, and walked towards the door, waiting to see where the edge of this return would be. Opening the door, she didn’t see the blurry edges, and decided to walk further. Max slowly tread down the stairs, stopping at the bottom, and seeing her mom in the kitchen.

_She’s starting my “congratulations” cake. This is so crazy. I’m able to go so much further than when I traveled via photo._

“I think I’m gonna go for a walk, if that’s okay,” Max said to her mom.

Vanessa looked up, a smile lighting her features. “Sure, Maxine. Just make sure you’re back in time for dinner. I’m baking you a cake to celebrate your admission to Blackwell,” she said jovially.

Max nodded, and headed out the door. She walked at least two miles, and never found an edge to the memory. _How in the hell am I supposed to make it back to my original timeline? Wait, if I can come back here, and change something, maybe I can still save Chloe… and Rachel. If I can figure out how to get back to my time, and get one of my older journals, maybe I can save them both._

Max looked around to see if there was anything nearby that would help her test this new power. Her eyes zeroed in on a tattoo parlor across the street. _That could work._ Max hurried across the street, and entered the small parlor.

The man at the counter was just taking a payment for another payment, and glanced up as she walked in.

“I’ll be right with you, miss.”

Max nodded, and started looking around at all of the art on the walls around her. Hardly paying attention as the previous customer walked past her out the door. Max had her eye on a tattoo of a blue butterfly that had immediately called to her. _Hmm. I don’t know if I’m ready for a tattoo, yet._

The tattoo artist cleared his throat. “I’m Johnny, can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah. I was wanting to get my nose and ears pierced, “Max answered, as she tried to seem confident.

“Are you 18?” His eyes were squinting at her as he gave her a once over.

“19, actually,” Max lied, hoping he wouldn’t ask for her ID, since she definitely didn’t have a fake. She also realized that she didn’t have any money with her, but had a solution. She made sure to keep eye contact with him. “I was wanting to get a nose stud in my left nostril, and double piercings on my lobes.”

Johnny gave her a suspicious look for a moment, before grunting, and asking her to pick out her studs. 30 minutes, and one rewind later, Max was on her way back home, with 5 new holes in her head, and a care kit to keep them clean. She only hoped that the her that was there when she left would properly care for them. She felt guilty about the rewind. She would have to send him some cash anonymously to pay for the metal she stole. She had figured if the items she was carrying stayed with her when she rewound, so would items that were now a part of her. Max was deep in thought, trying to plan what she could do to help fix the future, as she rounded the corner to her street. _I could try and find an entry when from when I was already packed, and make sure to pack my old journals._

Max unlocked the front door, and started to creep up the stairs to put away her care kit.

“Maxine Caulfield!” Max froze, as her mother’s stern voice caught her on the stairs. “What on earth have you done to your face, young lady?”

Max quickly lifted her right hand and rewound, hurrying the rest of the way up the steps before her mom could spot her. As she quietly closed her door, she laid out the kit, as well as instructions for cleaning, just incase her other self took back over suddenly. She started to feel drawn back to the desk, and sat down to write a bit more in the journal. She saw that she had written the whole entry before her mind took over, and decided to add a bit to it.

**I decided today in celebration of my new position at school, that I wanted to get my nose and ears pierced. It’s going to be a lot to take care of, but I thought a change would be nice. I –**

The world began twisting and turning around her again, her eyes closing automatically, so as not to get ill from the spinning sensation. She felt her pulse quickening again, and a strange pressure in her ears. When she next opened her eyes, she was back in her hospital room, her breakfast still cooling on her tray. She felt her ears, and felt the metal of the studs she was wearing. She brought her hands forward towards her nose, and froze as she felt a loop at her finger tips. _It worked! I CAN BUTTERFLY EFFECT MY JOURNALS!_

She looked back at the journal in her lap, and saw the writing at the end was different. She could see where she cut off, and the other her took over.

**What in the hell? I had some sort of a black out. I came to, and mom was calling me down for dinner. That isn’t the craziest part. During my black out I somehow went and got a nose and ear piercings. I have no memory of it, and mom and dad flipped out on me. Stating that it was irresponsible and illegal for me to do so without their permission. They definitely don’t believe that I have no memory of the event in question. I’m officially grounded for a week, but they are letting me keep them. Which, I have to say, I kind of like them. Maybe it’ll make me seem edgier when I start my new school.**

Max smiled as she closed the journal, thoughts already racing through her head of what she could do to save Chloe and Rachel. Tornado be damned.


	2. Chapter 2 - Journal Entries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola everyone. I'm working on chapter 3, i just decided to make this into 2 different parts. This is just a way of seeing what is different. (since i cant do it the way the game did)

Chapter 2

Missmagillicuddy

Chapter 2

July 12, 2013

Ow! My nose is sooo sore. It’s cute, but I for cereal can’t wait until it’s completely healed, and I can switch it up with a hoop. It’s gonna look so bad ass! Though, I think mom just thinks it looks horrific. She keeps giving me her angry mom look, pursed lips and eyes narrowed, every time she notices it. Pop pretends to hate it when mom is looking, but as soon as she looks away, he winks, so I think he likes it. He is still pretty pissed about the fact that I did it without asking… and that I won’t tell them where I got them done. Of course, they don’t believe when I tell them I don’t know.

Yet another thing to worry over. I’m super creeped out that I have that black out in my memory. One minute I’m writing in my journal, the next I’m sitting at my desk with my nose and ears throbbing. How is it possible that I had a full conversation with mom, walked to dog knows where to get a NOSE piercing, and made it back all without one single memory. Is this early onset dementia, or did someone slip something in my water at school? Maybe I have a second personality. One that takes over and has no fear of getting a random nose piercing. Well, I have to go clean my piercings and do the extra punishment chores. (yay me :-/)

July 13, 2013

Being grounded on a Saturday is boring. I miss my phone. At least if they didn’t take that I could play a game. I guess I’ll read a book. I guess I can read a book.

July 17,2013

Freedom! Grounding over, commencing operation fun times with Kristen and Fernando. She is gonna be so excited when she sees my new piercings. She has been wanting to get hers done for months. Fernando is going to be picking us up, and then we’re going to see the Fremont Troll. I have to remember to bring extra film, so I can get some bomb photos! I know that they’re planning on boarding the booze train, so lucky me gets to drive back. Woo…hoo. :( I always get so nervous behind the wheel of a car. I always imagined driving would be so much easier than it is. Che and I would talk about getting our first cars as soon as we were old enough. I remember when we would pretend “park” our swing set pirate ship. Now when I’m driving a car, there is always that pit of doubt and anxiety. Nothing like the death of a loved one to instill a new fear for certain fiery death.

Oh Chloe. I miss you so much. I’m such a shit friend. I should have kept in contact over the years. I wonder who you hang out with now? I wonder if you’re still into science like you were in Junior High. William was so proud of that Science Contest you won. It’s been so hard without her here in Seattle. She was the one that kept the bullies away from me in Arcadia Bay. She was always like a bodyguard. I didn’t have that here. Kristen and Fernando are great friends, but they get bullied just as much as I do. I’m gonna have to contact Chloe as soon as I get to town. I’ll have to apologize. Maybe I should start planning what to say. 

“Hi Chloe. Remember Me? The girl that promised you we would ALWAYS be Max and Chloe even when we were apart? The girl who promised to keep in touch with you, like I had never left. Heh heh, Oops?” 

Yeah, I don’t think it’s going to go very well. How am I supposed to tell her that I wanted to call her, but that my depression and insecurities got the better of me. I was too busy having a pity party for myself to contact her. 

“Oh, I’m sorry Chloe. I know you wanted to talk to me, but I was really struggling with YOUR dad’s death… because, yeah, it’s all about me. (note future Max: sarcasm… not that I’ll even ever re-read this.)

She’s probably better off without me. 

September 2, 2013

My first entry from my new dorm room the night before my first day at Blackwell. My back and legs are so sore from all the trips up and down the stairs. An elevator and bell hop cart would have been very useful. Carrying a bunch of crap up the stairs can get a bit dicey. Pop and I REALLY struggled to get the futon up the stairs. It reminded me of Friends. Pivot! Except, instead of Ross Gellar, it’s Ryan Caulfield… lumberjack extraordinaire. Ok, so he’s not a lumberjack, but he could definitely pass as one in that Monty Python skit. He’s a lumberjack and he’s okay. Mom helped to set up my decorations while pop and I trekked the path between the loading area and my dorm room which felt like 100 miles by the time we got all my boxes up there. We got here at 10:00 am, and they didn’t leave until 6:30ish.

I haven’t really MET any of my new classmates, but I saw several of the other girls moving in . There’s a girl across the hall from me that just screams “daddy’s bank account has lots of zeros” I saw her looking at my outfit in disgust and could feel her judgment all the way in the safety of my room. I heard her bragging to another girl that her shoes were Louis Vuitton. Why would you wear such expensive shoes when you’re moving? I can’t imagine that being extremely comfortable. Plus, what if you accidentally scuff them? That is one expensive scuff mark... Meanwhile, my shoes are vans that I’ve been wearing for close to 2 years.

There’s another girl on the other side of the hall that said hi to me and seemed very sweet. I don’t remember her name either, but she had a cute bunny she was taking into her dorm. I MUST HAVE ALL TEH BUNNEH SNUGGLEZ!

I can’t wait to meet everyone tomorrow. Hopefully I do better than the last time I moved. I hope not to be bullied at my new school. I wish I could have afforded to splurge on a new wardrobe, but at least I got a new laptop for my homework assignments.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is slight mention of rape in this chapter. Nothing very descriptive. There are a couple of different references.

Hard Rest

MissMagillicuddy

Chapter 3

Max reclined against her hospital bed; her head nestled in the crappy hospital pillow. She had just finished reading the alternate journal entries her past self had made.

Dog, it’s still so bizarre to see my own handwriting but have no memory of the things I’ve written. It doesn’t look like getting a few piercings did much of a difference to my school experience. I need to consider how to save Chloe and Rachel. Maybe saving Rachel would be the catalyst. If Rachel is here, does Chloe still borrow money from Frank to fix her truck? If Rachel is there, does she still try blackmailing Nathan? Does that stop her from getting shot in the stomach in the girls’ bathroom? What if I use one of my journal entries to go back before Rachel was killed? Is there some way I can get her away from here the night of April 23rd? Shit, this journal only goes back to July. I need one of my older journals. How am I supposed to get it from Seattle? My parents are already here, so it’s not like I can send them home to bring one back with them.

Max continued to ponder her options as the day continued. In between bouts of inspiration she watched a lot of tv and visited with her friends and family that came to visit. It was while she was in the middle of a nasty hospital cheeseburger, if you could call that, that the thought slammed home.

_Duh! I’m such an idiot! I wrote an entry from my room in Seattle when I was packing. I can go back to that journal entry and put my old journal in one of the boxes I’ve already packed._ Max could have slapped her forehead. Instead she bided her time, waiting until the last of her visitor’s trickled out of her room before she finally reopened her journal.

**August 25, 2013**

**Shit is krazy here! I didn’t realize how much crap I had to pack until I had to pack all my crap. Mom and dad are getting’ a little too exc-**

Max focused on the memory, feeling her pulse momentarily speed up. The room and words from the pages seemed to be swirling around her like a vortex. She screwed her eyes shut, as the sensation was causing her to become nauseated. As she felt the spinning slow to a stop, she shook her head as if to shake off the remaining vertigo and opened her eyes… at her desk back in Seattle.

_Okay, what did I do with that last journal?_ Max searched around her room, finding an old journal in the closet when she was checking through old school stuff, but it was from 2009. _Not this one. That would take me back WAY too far. I need the one that ended right before this one. If it’s not with my school stuff from last year, I bet I stashed it in one of my desk drawers._

Max wandered over to her desk and started slowly going through the junk in the drawers. _Ugh, this thing should have been cleared out ages ago._ Max started sorting through the papers in the desk, throwing them in her trash can as she went. When she searched the second to last drawer, her hand brushed across the worn spine of a book, that was wedged in the back of the drawer. She bent over to look and saw that it was the one of her journals, and she was pretty sure her last one had been green like this one. The petite girl bent down a bit more and reached back up to her armpit, finally getting a grasp on the book, and tugging it free.

_Ah, got you my precious. I can now use you as a time travel destination booklet._ Max flipped open the cover and saw that the first entry was from late May of 2011. Max thought this was the correct one but decided to check the last entry and saw it was from June 31, 2013. _This is definitely the right one._ Max thought, as she went over to a box marked books, and stashed it inside. Now my journal will be in Arcadia Bay with me, and I can use it to go back to April. With her task complete, Max made her way back to her desk and reclaimed her seat. Closing her eyes, she focused on searching for her power within, letting it swirl around her. When she reopened her eyes, she was back in her hospital room.

Max checked her bag, hoping to find her other journal inside. She was a bit bummed not to find it. She really wanted to get the ball rolling. She wanted Chloe to be there with her. _Dammit. Of course, I wouldn’t have it with me. I hope I kept it and didn’t throw it out. I doubt I would have though, since I would have been too afraid for it to be found by another student. Like when I misplaced a journal in junior high that ended up being found and spread around by the popular crowd._ Max shuddered remembering the bout of bullying that had come from that. It’s not a good thing when there is an entry in there complaining about the most popular girl in school, after all. _Fuckin Lacie Lewis._ It’s hard to forget when a group of people gives you a swirlie. She remembers her mom had to pick her up from school that day, her hair still dripping with toilet water while tears streamed down her face. She never told them who was behind it because she was afraid the bullying would get worse. Not to mention the fact that the principle would NEVER believe her over Lacie Lewis. Shaking off those memories as best as she could, Max decided to check her journal and see if there were any clues about what she did with the journal.

**September 2, 2013**

**My first entry from my new dorm room the night before my first day at Blackwell. My back and legs are so sore from all the trips up and down the stairs. An elevator and bell hop cart would have been very useful. Carrying a bunch of crap up the stairs can get a bit dicey. Pop and I REALLY struggled to get the futon up the stairs. It reminded me of Friends. Pivot! Except, instead of Ross Gellar, it’s Ryan Caulfield… lumberjack extraordinaire. Ok, so he’s not a lumberjack, but he could definitely pass as one in that Monty Python skit. He’s a lumberjack and he’s okay. Mom helped to set up my decorations while pop and I trekked the path between the loading area and my dorm room which felt like 100 miles by the time we got all my boxes up there. When I was unpacking a box of books, I found one of my old journals inside. I don’t know why I packed that. Though, I suppose I can look at some of my old pictures. I must say, my pictures have progressed. I just tucked it in on my bookshelf with the rest of the books I brought. It has been such a long, exhausting day! We got here at 10:00 am, and mom and pop didn’t leave until 6:30ish.**

**I haven’t really MET any of my new classmates, but I saw several of the other girls moving it. There’s a girl across the hall from me that just screams “daddy’s bank account has lots of zeros” I saw her looking at my outfit in disgust and could feel her judgment all the way in the safety of my room. I heard her bragging to another girl that her shoes were Louis Vuitton. Why would you wear such expensive shoes when you’re moving? I can’t imagine that being extremely comfortable. Plus, what if you accidentally scuff them? That is one expensive scuff mark... Meanwhile, my shoes are vans that I’ve been wearing for close to 2 years.**

**There’s another girl on the other side of the hall that said hi to me and seemed very sweet. I don’t remember her name either, but she had a cute bunny she was taking into her dorm. I MUST HAVE ALL TEH BUNNEH SNUGGLEZ!**

**I can’t wait to meet everyone tomorrow. Hopefully I do better than the last time I moved. I hope not to be bullied at my new school. I wish I could have afforded to splurge on a new wardrobe, but at least I got a new laptop for my homework assignments.**

_Okay, so it looks like I put it with the rest of my books. I know Kate said she was going to come see me tomorrow after class to celebrate Halloween. I should text her and see if she’ll grab it for me._ Max grabbed her phone off the table to her right.

Max 10/30/2013 6:47pm: Heya Kate! Are you still planning on coming to see me tomorrow after classes let out for the day?

Kate 10/30/2013 6:48pm: You betcha! :-) Why, whats up?

Max 10/30/2013 6:48pm: Could you do me a favor and grab something from my dorm for me?

Kate 10/30/2013 6:49pm: Of Course! As long as it’s nothing illegal ;-p

Max 10/30/2013 6:52pm: You’re too cute for jail. They would eat you alive! Lol its just one of my old journals. It has a green, faux leather cover. It’s on my bookshelf. (on the wall by my bed above my dresser)

Kate 10/30/2013 6:58pm: [incoming picture] Is this it? Also, don’t worry about your plant. I’ve been keeping an eye on it. :)

Max 10/30/2013 6:59pm: That’s the one! Thanks Kate! And thanks for taking care of Lisa while I’m away. :)

Kate 10/30/2013 7:00pm: You’re welcome! I’ll see ya tomorrow after class!

Max 10/30/2013 7:01pm: ttyl xomaxo

Max turned to a fresh page in her journal and started writing out a plan to save Chloe. _What is going to get them out of town that day?_

**Ideas:**

  1. **Send letter telling them Rachel is in danger** _… I don’t know if that seems believable. A random person saying that Rachel is going to die would probably just seem like some sort of a joke._
  2. **Call Chloe and ask her to come visit, and bring her friends with her** _… I doubt if Chloe would even want to see me at that point in time. She hadn’t heard from me in years, and she still had Rachel with her._
  3. **Are there any concert’s that week in Portland or Seattle?** _… This is a viable option. They’re both into thrashing, and they could go to the city for more than one day. Chloe needs a little vacation. The problem here is that concerts cost money, and my job last year didn’t pay much._



_I really hope one of these options will work. I need to see Chloe again. I miss her so much, the sound of her voice, her blue eyes like a pool that I could just do a cannonball into. Her laugh, rare as it was. I bet if she hadn’t been missing Rachel she would have been laughing a lot more. The 3 of us would be spending time together. Smiles and laughs all around._

It was getting late, and Max’s thoughts were starting to become muddled. She decided to give her mind a break and relax a bit before bed. She turned off the lights in her room and turned on the TV, flipping through channels until she wound up watching a show that instantly drew her in on TNT about a team of thieves stealing from corrupt, rich assholes, and giving it back to their victims. _Hmm, modern day Robin Hood. I wish the Leverage team were real people who could give the Prescott’s a taste of their own medicine._ She continued watching the episode, laughing along as two of the team were trapped inside a bank during a robbery while another two that had been outside tried to rob the bank while it was already being robbed. _Hmmm, bank robbery. I could use some cash. It’ll probably help get Rachel and Che out of town in April. I could rob a bank, then rewind, and still have the money in my possession… no, I wouldn’t need that much money, but a couple thousand would be nice._ Max was halfway through the following episode when she started nodding off. Her last thought before her eyes closed for the night was, _I hope I can save them._

The following day was a blur for Max. She spent a lot of the day watching a Halloween marathon on Syfy channel. It was almost 4 o’clock by the time Kate showed up with Warren in tow, handing Max her journal as soon as she saw her.

“I figured you wouldn’t mind if Warren came. He offered me a ride when I told him I was visiting you,” Kate stated as she took a seat in one of the armchairs next to the bed.

“Of course I don’t mind. Hey Warren, thanks for giving Kate a lift. It’s good to see you,” Max replied, while idly flipping through the journal she now possessed.

Warren was glancing at the TV, “Halloween: Resurrection? That movie was trash. Speaking of Halloween, we brought you some candy.” Warren smiled and held out an orange plastic pumpkin filled to the brim with candy. The three of them sat there chatting while the movie played in the background. They debated which candy is the best, Kate liked Kit-kats or starbursts, Max liked Reese’s peanut butter cups and Warren said the best was hands down Twix. They agreed to disagree in the end. As the ending credits for Halloween started scrolling up the screen, Max’s parents arrived. What followed that was an argument. In which Vanessa and Ryan told Max they were leaving the following day and wanted her to come with them. Max flat out refused to do so, and they couldn’t make her because she was 18. _Wait, I’m going to be traveling back through my journal after they leave. Which would mean this whole argument is pointless because I plan to fix everything. If all goes right, none of us will be in this room when I come back._

The rest of the time seemed to drag on. Max kept glancing at the clock, willing it to move faster so she could save Chloe. It wasn’t until 8:00 that a nurse came in and told her parent’s they’d overstayed their welcome. After a bit tense of a goodbye, Max’s parent’s left. Leaving her alone in the room for the first time in several hours.

_Finally!_ Max flipped open the journal and started looking through the entries. _April, April, April. Crap, of course the one in April is after 24 th. What was before that? March 20th… That should work. _Max started focusing in on the words on the page, feeling her power starting to twist around her. _Why does this seem to be getting easier? Except for the nausea._

**March 20, 2013**

**I! HATE! MY! SCHOOL!** **FUCKIN LACIE LEWIS lied and told the whole school that I tried asking her on a date, and that when she said no I ran off crying. Yeah right! Like I would ever be interested in someone as horrid as she is. She is so mean to everyone, and the school lets her get away with it because her dads the principle. All of the other students believe her. Other than Kristen and Fernando, that is. I spent all day getting called a “dirty dyke” or “fucking faggot” and being pelted with spit wads. My books got knocked out of my arms by 2 different people, which made me late for class, which got me in trouble in front of everyone. I wish I had stood up to her when she said it. Instead I stood there stuttering and gaping like a moron. I ha-**

Max blinked, and she was back in Seattle, laying on her bed with her journal in hand. She could tell that when she had taken over she had been crying. Her eyes were feeling puffy, her nose was running and she could feel the tear tracks drying on her face. _Ugh, I hate that feeling after a cry. I need to wash my face and get to work._ Max got up from the bed, swiping the tissues into a garbage bin on the floor next to her bed.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, Max was back. She had decided on trying to get them out of town when Rachel was supposed to go missing. The brunette walked to her desk and got on her old laptop. _Wish I already had my new computer. It processes so much faster._ Max sighed and brought up a list of upcoming events in Seattle. _I don’t see much on here that would interest Chloe. An RV show, a home show and My Little Pony on Ice. Yeah, no._ Max next started looking at event’s for that week in Portland. As she was scrolling through, something caught her eye. **Firewalk! LIVE ON STAGE! April 24, 2013! Get your tickets now! Get your tickets now.** _Yes! Chloe loves Firewalk. I can get her and Rachel tickets to that. They would definitely go out of town for a show!_ Max clicked into the add, winding up on a page for ticketmaster. Max looked at the page, scrolling through her options for seats. It’s almost sold out. _It looks like there are still some seats in the boonies, and … ooh backstage pass. $300 apiece. That’s pricey, but it would be so worth it. Where the hell am I supposed to get 600 dollars? If I were like Hardison on Leverage, I could just hack into the bank and transfer it to myself._ Max sat up straighter in her seat, as she realized that she may be unable to hack a computer, but she can rewind time. Who needs hacking, when you can just withdraw money, rewind and have no evidence of the withdrawal? _I know stealing is wrong, but if it saves Chloe and Rachel, it’s worth it._

Max made up her mind and left her room, making her ways downstairs to the living room where she knew she would find her parents.

“Mom, can I borrow your car keys? I need to get some, uh, lady products,” Max said from the doorway, trying to keep herself from looking too fidgety and suspicious.

“Sure, hon. Just drive carefully, okay? Would you mind grabbing some milk and eggs? We’re making French Toast in the morning, You can use my debit card, the pin is 0921” Vanessa said all of this without missing a moment of the movie she and Ryan were watching.

Max left the room, grabbed her mom’s keys and debit card and left the house in her moms 05’ equinox. It was a short drive to Walmart, and there was an ATM just outside the door. Max stopped there first, withdrawing her mom’s debit card, and inserting it in the machine. Max punched in the pin, and clicked to check account balance. _$2,148.72, okay. I’ll round up and say 2150._ Max selected to do another transaction and clicked withdraw from checking. _I’ll try withdrawing $500 at a time. I think that is mom’s withdrawal limit._ Once the money had dispensed, she put it in her purse, raised her hand and focused on pulling back time. When her vision started to turn red, Max released her hold. When she checked, the money she withdrew was still in her purse. She reinserted the debit card and checked the account balance. $ _2,148.72. It worked. It shows no proof of withdrawal._ Max smiled and repeated the process 5 more times. Once she had reached $3000 she walked away from the machine, and rewound time one last time, so that she wound never be seen on camera anywhere near the machine.

Max made her way into Walmart, stopping and picking up her mom’s eggs and milk and her tampons first. _Wouldn’t want to forget the cover items._ By the checkout, Max was looking at the options for gift cards. She grabbed a visa gift card that she could load up to $500, and 2 ticketmaster cards with the same limit options. When she got to the checkout counter, she put the groceries on her mom’s debit card, and did a separate transaction for the gift cards. She Put $500 on the visa and put $350 on each ticketmaster card. Max smiled while leaving the store, hurrying across the parking lot to get in the car and head home. After dropping off the eggs and milk in the refrigerator she went back to her room to purchase the passes, using the gift cards she had purchased earlier. For the shipping information she put down Chloe’s name and address. After finishing that purchase, she grabbed an envelope and stamp from her desk, and put the $500 visa gift card with a typed note saying it was for her trip to Portland. _They can use that to get transportation and for food or souvenirs. Hopefully it doesn’t show up way before the Firewalk passes. What should I do with the remaining cash? I should put it in something that I’m for sure going to bring with me to Blackwell._ In the end she decided to put it in an envelope and tape it in at on the inside back cover of one of her art books. After a quick trip to the mailbox to send her mail, she headed back up to her bedroom and resumed her position from when she took over. With any luck, past her would just attribute the black out to falling asleep after crying. Max signed and closed her eyes, focusing in on her power. Silently praying to any god that may be listening that this worked.

10/31/2013 9:08 pm

Max opened her eyes. Everything seemed very blurry around the edges. _Where m’ at? Whas gon on?_

“Shut up Maxine! It doesn’t matter where you are! You won’t remember any of this tomorrow. Just shut your mouth!”

Max could hear the cacophony of crickets chirping all around her, and the smell of damp hay filled her nostrils, as she was maneuvered towards the waiting black car.

_M’ outside?_ Max felt her head whip to the side as someone smacked her across the face, while another pair of arms held her up. Max’s mouth felt as dry as if she had been chewing sand for the last 3 hours, and she could feel pain radiating all over her body. _Did I get n’ a fight? Did I win?_

She got a backhand across her face. “I said shut the FUCK UP bitch! You already messed up my art by vomiting in the middle of it. Stupid whore!”

“Should I give her another dose? I’m afraid she’s too lucid, and will remember this,” another, younger voice chimed in. Max didn’t catch the response, but she did feel a sting in her neck. Max felt something trickle out of her vagina right before her world went dark. _Oh great, now I’m starting my period._

“You grab her feet, I’ll grab her arms. We’ll move her to one of the benches outside of the dorm ro-“

Max’s consciousness seemed to be coming in and out of focus.

“God, for such a small bitch, she sure get’s heavy” the younger voice again. The sound of 2 car doors slam shut, and the sound of rapid footfalls appear.

“HEY! WHO’S THERE! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” another voice, female.

“nooo, lemme go. Whas happenin,” Max slurred out, as her consciousness flooded back in for the moment.

As the running steps got closer to her, Max felt herself fall straight to the ground, as 2 other sets of feet took off in the opposite direction. _Ow!_ Max tried to move to her side but ended up rolling off the sidewalk and onto her face.

“Come on, Chloe,” the female voice screamed again. Getting very close now. “It looked like they were moving a body!”

Max was hardly aware of what was going on around her. She barely felt when she was rolled back around. A loud gasp sounded, and she was back floating in the darkness. As she continued to float between conscious and unconscious, she just heard random snippets of conversation.

A horrified gasp, “It’s Max!” _yep, m’ Max. who’re you?_

“I should have forgiven her. If I had, she wouldn’t have been beaten to a pulp.”

“Can you pick her up? We have to take her to the hospital.”

Max felt herself be turned gently onto her back, while an arm slid under her shoulders, and another under her legs.

“She’s light, can you grab her bag, and would you mind driving? I’m gonna see if the number I have for her parents still works.”

“Chlo-bear,” Max mumble, snugging into the neck of the person carrying her. “missed you s’much”

Max can see the streetlights in her position in the truck. They seem to be moving behind them pretty quickly. Someone is muttering into a phone beside her.

“What do you mean _did she try to kill herself again?”_ She can hear the strain in the anguished voice. There was silence for a few moments. A sad sigh escaped, “Oh Max, I’m so sorry this happened to you. Vanessa, she didn’t try to kill herself. It looks like she was beaten up. There were 2 guys carrying her. I’ll let her know when she wakes up that you’re on your way.” Max lost track of the conversation again.

“IT IS! IF I HADN’T HELD A GRUDGE SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN WITH US!”

Max is briefly aware again, she feels herself laying on a bed, and see’s the ceiling of the hospital rushing above her. She feels a sting in her arm, she can’t tell if it’s an IV or if someone is drawing blood for labs. She hears a bunch of random bits of conversation around her. Max groans as she moves her head around, trying to get rid of the fuzziness. Someone starts smoothing her hair and soothing her. “shhhhhhh”

“We saw them carrying her and –“ The persons voice sounds sad, and she can hear someone else crying.

“They said her head hit the ground hard, she may have a conc”

“Take these vials to the lab. Tell them it is urgent! We need to know what they used on her!”

“Could either of you make out anything about the perpetrators?”

Max could feel someone cutting off her clothes. She shivered in the cool hospital air. She could feel them checking different parts of her body and heard the snap of a camera. She heard herself groaning, as they started to remove her underwear. She hears another gasp.

“I think we need a rape kit.”


	4. Chapter 4

Hard Rest

MissMagillicuddy

A/N: so, I was looking through some of Max’s journal entries from the game. I saw one that mentioned burning all of her clothes and raiding a thrift store to build up her wardrobe over her junior year. I think that was just an error in the game because I’m fairly certain she’s supposed to be a senior. However, for the purposes of this story, she is going to be a junior… along with Kate and Victoria. Rachel is a senior. I’ve also decided on this journal entry section to bold the parts where new information is added.

Chapter 4

September 2, 2013

My first entry from my new dorm room the night before my first day at Blackwell. My back and legs are so sore from all the trips up and down the stairs. An elevator and bell hop cart would have been very useful. Carrying a bunch of crap up the stairs can get a bit dicey. Pop and I REALLY struggled to get the futon up the stairs. It reminded me of Friends. Pivot! Except, instead of Ross Gellar, it’s Ryan Caulfield… lumberjack extraordinaire. Ok, so he’s not a lumberjack, but he could definitely pass as one in that Monty Python skit. He’s a lumberjack and he’s okay. Mom helped to set up my decorations while pop and I trekked the path between the loading area and my dorm room which felt like 100 miles by the time we got all my boxes up there. We got here at 10:00 am, and they didn’t leave until 6:30ish.

I haven’t really MET any of my new classmates, but I saw several of the other girls moving in . There’s a girl across the hall from me that just screams “daddy’s bank account has lots of zeros” I saw her looking at my outfit in disgust and could feel her judgment all the way in the safety of my room. I heard her bragging to another girl that her shoes were Louis Vuitton. Why would you wear such expensive shoes when you’re moving? I can’t imagine that being extremely comfortable. Plus, what if you accidentally scuff them? That is one expensive scuff mark... Meanwhile, my shoes are vans that I’ve been wearing for close to 2 years.

There’s another girl on the other side of the hall that said hi to me and seemed very sweet. I don’t remember her name either, but she had a cute bunny she was taking into her dorm. I MUST HAVE ALL TEH BUNNEH SNUGGLEZ!

**The only other person that stood out was easily one of the most beautiful girls I’ve evvvvver seen. She’s probably about the same size as me, but she has long blond hair, a beautiful smile and some of the most piercing eyes I’ve ever seen. It seems like she could look right through you. I wish I had half of her sense of style. :( I think she’s one of the senior girls. I heard her and the girl rooming next to her talking about what play the drama club will be doing this year. Apparently, they want something really good since it’s their last year. Unless they both plan to drop out or become expelled after this year.**

I can’t wait to meet everyone tomorrow. Hopefully I do better than the last time I moved. I hope not to be bullied at my new school. I wish I could have afforded to splurge on a new wardrobe, but at least I got a new laptop for my homework assignments.

September 3, 2013

Blackwell sucks ass! I told myself not to whine so soon, but damn... The day started like Christmas morning. I barely had any dreams because I was so pumped to start my first official day of my new life. Like a dork I couldn't figure out what to wear, so I chose what was on the floor. I'm no good with names and faces right away, but I picked up some names like KateBrookeTaylorAlyssaRachel.This

**Kate is the girl across the hallway that has a cute bunny with her. I haven’t really talked to her yet, but she seems very nice. I haven’t figured out who Brooke, Alyssa or Taylor are yet. I’ll get to Rachel in a moment.**

And how could I forget Victoria Chase? Rich, stylish, entitled. I could feel INSTANT JUDGMENT when she looked at my raggedy ass clothes. As if I'm at Blackwell to strike fashion poses... Maybe I'm being extra crispy sensitive, but I think Victoria wants life here to be like her own reality show. Ugh...

So that wasn't fun along with my general social unease... I thought it would be easier being back. Call the waaahmbulance! I don't want this day to end all "Woe Is Max". It was incredible to walk across the green campus in the morning mist. I love the stone steps and brick walls of Blackwell. Everything is a picture waiting to be taken... Speaking of, at least one great thing did happen today: Mr. Jefferson's photography class. Sigh... **This is where I talk about Rachel. She is the girl I mentioned yesterday, the one that looks like a model. She was seated at the same table as me in Mr. Jefferson’s class. I don’t know why, but she kept giving me weird looks throughout the whole class. I felt like I needed to run out of class to check a mirror. What if I’ve been walking around all day with a booger hanging out of my nose, or a giant pimple on my forehead? She didn’t seem mean, or anything. Just… I don’t know. I worry when people stare at me for too long. What if she can tell I’m a loser, and is going to start picking on me?**

There's more to tell but journal, forgive me, I'm truly wiped out.

**September 6, 2013**

**MY! LIFE! SUCKS! I finally figured out why Rachel Amber was staring at me, and it wasn’t because I had something on my face. She is friends with Chloe. My Chloe. I guess Chloe must have mentioned my name around her at some point in the last 5 years. Then Rachel must have mentioned me to Chloe because when I was walking from classes to my dorm after class, there they were. As soon as I saw her, all of my memories came rushing back. It didn’t feel like it had been 5 years since I saw her. Except that she looks like a completely different person. Blue hair, tattoos, and a completely new wardrobe. She got really beautiful. Oh, and she apparently hates me now.**

**Before I even had a chance to open my mouth, there she was. She was telling me off for not contacting her while I was away. I tried to explain and apologize, but Chloe didn’t want to hear it. She said if I had cared about her, I would have at the least told her I was coming home. Good job, Max. You ruined your chance to redeem yourself. I just wanted to try and fit in before getting back into contact with her. I had hoped to have time to figure myself out a little bit more, grow my confidence. Instead she hates me. I apologized and begged her to let me make it up to her, but she told me she didn’t want to hear it and stormed off. I stood there crying like a baby in the middle of the courtyard. Before she followed her Rachel told me that she was sorry, but she couldn’t keep anything from Chloe ever again.**

**To make matters worse, on my way back into the dorms I was crying and not paying attention to where I was going. I accidentally bumped into Victoria Chase and sent us both careening to the ground. I twisted my ankle, and unfortunately for her she had been holding one of her cameras. Also unfortunately for her she had landed on a big wad of gum someone had spat out. After telling me I had ruined her outfit she told me she was going to ruin my life.**

**I’ve been locked in my dorm room since. I can’t go anywhere, not like this. I’ve ruined my chances of having any sort of social life at school.**

**September 9, 2013**

**I had to leave the sanctity of my dorm to return to classes today. Someone left a nice picture of a crybaby on my whiteboard outside my room. I wish we didn’t have to have them up. It’s just an easy way for the popular to pick on the losers, like me. I don’t know what Victoria told everyone, but no one is talking to me. Well, no one but Kate and Warren. She is about the sweetest person alive. I don’t think she would hurt a fly. He’s a student from my science class, and he’s also a bit nerdy so I don’t think it bothers him. He was skipped up a grade, so I think he must be pretty smart.**

**September 30, 2013**

**I hate school. Why do teenagers have to be such assholes? Today I opened my locker and someone had photoshopped my face onto the body of a baby. They also added a bunch of pacifiers, that spilled all over the hallway when I opened the door. I ran out of there pretty quickly, while Victoria and her friends laughed loudly behind me. I swear, if I hear them start faking a cry around me again I am going to snap. I ran into Kate on my way out, and she walked with me back to the dorm rooms. She is so nice. I wish there were more people like her in school.**

**October 5, 2013**

**Something happened with Kate. I’m not entirely sure what, but I know that it involved a video. I don’t know what was on the video, but it was apparently pretty bad. On my way back from the bathroom this afternoon, I heard Victoria calling Kate a Viral Slut. Before I could step in myself though, Rachel Amber came in like a Rockstar. She dragged Victoria to her room, and they screamed at each other for 10 minutes. Rachel must have something good on her because she got her to take down the video. I hope it didn’t get very many views. Sweet Kate doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.**

**October 30, 2013**

**Mr. Jefferson asked me to stay after class today. He told me that he is worried about how I seem to have cut myself off from all my classmates. I mentioned to him about how I was being picked on, but he tried to tell me that life is what we make it. I guess I have a gift and he doesn’t want to see me squander it. He told me he needed to get going, but that we could continue our conversation after class tomorrow. I know this is probably silly but I could tell that Victoria was jealous… and it made me happy. Take that, Victoria! I have talent, and I’m going to have another conversation with Mr. Jefferson tomorrow.**

**October 31, 2013**

**I stayed after class again with Mr. Jefferson. He was looking at some of my pictures and was telling me that I have a fantastic eye for shots. He told me that I need to be bold and always take the shot. He told me that I second guess myself to much and offered for me to come with him and see how he accomplishes some of his best shots. I’m taking the bus in 30 minutes to meet him at a park. I’ll write an update when I get back.**

AN – Dorm rooms

217 – Rachel

218 – Dana

219 – Max

220 – Brooke

221 – Victoria

222 – Kate

223 – Juliet

224 – Taylor

Stella has been moved to 225 in the other part of the hall


	5. Chapter 5

Hard Rest

By Miss Magillicuddy

A/N - TRIGGER WARNING - THIS CHAPTER INCLUDES A GRAPHIC RAPE SCENE, AND further physical abuse. it also contains mentions of self-harm and suicide attempts

October 31, 2013

Max Caulfield was having a pretty shitty year so far. The past 2 months had been a hellish nightmare of constant bullying and loneliness. She had spent some time with either Kate or Warren, but they had other friends. It wouldn’t be right to make them only hang out with her. The rest of her time was spent hiding away in her dorm room. Not today, though. Today _she_ was going to be given pointers by Mark Jefferson.

_You don’t get this chance every day, girl! How many people can say they got pointers from one of their favorite artists?_

Max practically ran off the bus as soon as it was at a complete stop, paying no mind to the bus driver behind her yelling at her to be careful. She looked around the park, searching for Mr. Jefferson but didn’t see him, so she walked a bit further in. Sighing, she sat on a bench with her back facing the woods behind her. She was distracted while she waited. She didn’t even notice as somebody came up behind her. She did, however, feel the sting in her neck. By that point it was too late to do anything but let her eyes droop shut.

Max’s eyes slowly opened, as she heard a clicking sound around her. _Is someone taking my picture?_ _Where am I?_ Max groaned, as she tried to lift her head.

“God damn it, Max! You ruined my shot!” she felt someone smack her across the face and cried out in pain. “Keep still, or you’re going to be very sorry.”

Max’s eyes roamed the room groggily. Settling in on Mr. Jefferson and Nathan Prescott, each of them were pointing cameras at her.

“Why are you doing this? Where are we,” she said with a raspiness that isn’t usually in her voice. _Why is my mouth so dry?_

Jefferson laughed jovially, “Don’t you remember, Max? I told you I was going to show you how I accomplish my best shots. I’ve been wanting to add your photos to my collection since I saw your first _selfie._ Now, I think we’re going to need to give you a bit more… shall we say medicine. You’re getting a bit too lucid for my liking _”_

Max saw Nathan put his camera down and head off to the side. She wasn’t sure what he was doing until she felt the needle pierce her neck again, and slowly drifted into a drug induced haze. The next half hour was spent being posed in different ways. Max could feel herself being moved, but she couldn’t speak. She could hear speaking going on around her but wasn’t able to comprehend what was being said.

“Okay Nathan. You’re going to need to do these next shots. I may wind up needing my hands. You can have her when I’m done.”

Max heard a strange sound, she knew that she recognized it, but couldn’t place what it was. _A zipper, maybe? That asshole is probably grabbing a different camera._ She didn’t have very much time to ponder it, as within seconds there was a hand clamping her hair at her scalp in a tight grasp changing the angle of her head. Another hand roughing grabbed her chin, forcing her mouth open. Her vision was very blurry. She couldn’t see much, but she felt something firm and velvety start sliding into her mouth, leaving a bitter, salty taste behind. As it started going down her throat, Max’s gag reflex kicked in, there was vomit going all over the legs and floor in front of her. She heaved another 2 times, the last time nothing but bile coming up.

“Fuck! The bitch puked on me!” Max’s head snapped to the side as she was punched in the face. She fell to the side, landing partially in her vomit. Blows started raining down all over her body. It felt like it was never going to end. A few times she could feel herself be hit with what may have been a tripod. A final kick landed before she heard Jefferson yell for Nathan to clean up the mess she made. “I’m going to grab my dry cleaning from my car. I’ll need a new outfit when we leave.”

Max was sobbing uncontrollably as Nathan cleaned up the mess around her, taking a moment to wipe the vomit off her as well. _Can’t have me covered in vomit in their disgusting pictures.Guess they don’t care about blood though._ Her mind seemed to be going in and out of focus, in what seemed like no time Mr. Jefferson was back in the room.

“For fucks sake! Would you stop your crying you little bitch,” the photographer roared, as he smacked her again across the face. “Nathan, I’m gonna need a hand here.”

Max could feel her body being maneuvered again, as her clothes were removed. When the last of her clothing was removed, she was moved onto her hands and knees.

Jefferson came up behind her, brought his lips to her ear, and whispered “I’m going to take you like the bitch you are.” In the next instant, Max felt a burning in her nether regions as her virginity was ripped away from her. She screamed in pain and terror, trying to get away from the intrusion. She was too doped up to put up much of a fight, and Mr. Jefferson was stronger than her even when she wasn’t drugged. The teacher kept thrusting as hard as he could, his skin slapping against her each time. He wanted it to hurt her. She had messed up his shot by having the audacity to vomit on him. He was grunting with exertion as he drew ever closer to release. He realized she wasn’t make any noise anymore and glanced down, seeing that she had lost consciousness. He grabbed her around her waist and lifted, so that her back was against his chest. He bit her neck hard as he came inside of her, thrust’s slowing down until he was done. He pulled out and looked at Nathan.

“Did you get some good shots?” Seeing Nathan nodding while looking through the pictures on the screen he continued “It’s your turn if you want it.”

Nathan shifted a bit and walked over, handing Mr. Jefferson the camera before flipping Max onto her back. He didn’t undress completely, just pulled his pants to his knees. Mr. Jefferson instructed him to lift one of her legs towards her chest. Nathan pushed forward and slid into her. He started a quick pace, and leant down to bite at her chest.

He groaned, “Oooh, she’s still tight.” He continued thrusting, taking instruction from Mr. Jefferson at different points throughout.

“Make it look like you’re kissing her”

“Bring her other leg to her chest”

Nathan felt his thrusts becoming irregular and let loose with a guttural groan. He pulled out a few seconds later and grabbed a camera. Talking pictures of her from different angles.

“I think we’ve got all we need. We should put her clothes back on her and get her back to Blackwell,” the bespectacled man said before putting down his camera. He smirked a little, and ran his fingers through the cum and blood coming from her, bending over and writing “whore” on her stomach. He grabbed her clothes, and helped Nathan get her clothes back on her. The two of them dragged her up the stairs and out towards Mr. Jefferson’s car.

Max opened her eyes. Everything seemed very blurry around the edges. 

“ _Where m’ at? Whas gon on?”_

“Shut up Maxine! It doesn’t matter where you are! You won’t remember any of this tomorrow. Just shut your mouth!” Mr. Jefferson yelled at her.

Max could hear the cacophony of crickets chirping all around her, and the smell of damp hay filled her nostrils, as she was maneuvered towards the waiting black car.

_“M’ outside?”_ Max felt her head whip to the side as someone smacked her across the face, while another pair of arms held her up. Max’s mouth felt as dry as if she had been chewing sand for the last 3 hours, and she could feel pain radiating all over her body. “ _Did I get n’ a fight? Did I win?”_

She got a backhand across her face. “I said shut the FUCK UP bitch! You already messed up my art by vomiting in the middle of it. Stupid whore!”

“Should I give her another dose? I’m afraid she’s too lucid, and will remember this,” Nathan asked, a slightly worried tone in his voice.

“Yeah, we don’t want her remembering any of this.”

Nathan grabbed the drug and syringe and injecting it once more into her neck, while Mr. Jefferson pressed a button on his key to pop his trunk.

They worked together to get her into the trunk and slammed it shut before getting into the car themselves and making their way back to Blackwell. After parking and shutting off the car, the two men walked around to the back of the car, lifting the trunk to stare at the unconscious girl inside.

“You grab her feet, I’ll grab her arms. We’ll move her to one of the benches outside of the dorm room,“ Mr. Jefferson said, before grabbing her under her armpit’s and heaving her out of the car. Nathan grabbed her legs, and the two of them started the trek towards the dorm rooms.

“God, for such a small bitch, she sure get’s heavy,” Nathan complained as the 2 of them were making their way towards the set of stairs from the parking lot. He noticed that a few of the lights seemed to be burnt out. “It’s a good thing these lights aren’t on. It would make it harder for people to see us.”

Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, the sound of two car doors slammed shut, and a yelling voice could be heard.

“Hey! Who’s there? What do you think you’re doing?” a female voice demanded from across the parking lot. Nathan looked at his father figure in horror. Without a word spoken between them, they dropped Max between them, and took off running.

October 31, 2013 – Blackwell Parking Lot

Chloe put her truck in park, and glanced over at her best friend on the other side of the bench. An evil grin stretched across Chloe’s face.

“Dude, you screamed so loud. You were hella scared!” Chloe burst into laughter at the end of her sentence. Leaning into her steering wheel as she tried to catch her breath.

Rachel huffed and rolled her eyes, “Oh, revenge will be mine. You’ll never see it coming! Don’t even pretend you wouldn’t scream if you opened the bathroom door to find a clown holding a butcher knife!”

Chloe broke out into laughter again, tears of mirth gathering in her eyes. Rachel started giving her the stink eye before she sighed and turned her attention out the window. She sat up pin straight in her seat. “What the fuck is that?”

“Nice try, Rach. I’m not falling for that,” Chloe said with a snort

“I’m not fucking joking, Chloe,” Rachel exclaimed in exasperation, pointing out of her window at the silhouettes in the distance.

Chloe rolled her eyes before looking, her body instantly freezing when she saw what Rachel was looking at.

“SHIT!” the two of them started grasping for the door handles of the truck, before leaping out.

Rachel charged towards them, screaming the whole way “Hey! Who’s there? What do you think you’re doing?” 

The girls watched as two of the figures dropped the third and took off running, as the third hit the ground and wound up rolling off the curb.

Rachel glanced over her shoulder as she continued to run towards the stairs “Come on, Chloe! It looked like they were moving a body.”

Rachel reached the figure and went to her knees, panting for air as she gently moved the person onto their back. She released a horrified gasp at the sight that greeted her. The girl had a split lip, a cut across her cheek that looked to be causing swelling and both eyes looked bruised and puffy.Her face was almost unrecognizable, but next to her on the ground was a familiar camera bag. She felt Chloe come up behind her and looked up at her with sorrow filled eyes.

“It’s Max!” Rachel screamed, while checking her neck for a pulse.

“What” Chloe’s voice sounded strained as she leaned around Rachel to take a look. Her face paled when she saw Max’s face bloodied and bruised. “Oh my God. Max, what the hell happened to you?”

“I feel a pulse, and she appears it looks like she’s breathing okay, “ Rachel said, as she brushed some of the hair from her face to take a closer look. “Some of these cuts look pretty deep.”

“This is all my fault,” Chloe proclaimed, as she broke into a sob with her shoulders shaking.

“How do you figure?”

Chloe’s head flew up, “If I hadn’t been so goddamn stubborn this wouldn’t have happened. I should have forgiven her. If had she wouldn’t have been beaten to a pulp.”

Rachel bit her lip and looked at Max with a sad look on her face. “Can you pick her up? We have to take her to the hospital.”

Chloe nodded and knelt down next to Max’s broken body. She gently slid an arm under her shoulders and knees, clutching her to her chest before slowly standing. “She’s light. Can you grab her bag and would you mind driving? I gonna see if the number I have for her parents still works.”

Rachel nodded before grabbing Max’s bag off the ground and racing towards the truck. She opened the passenger door for Chloe before rounding to the drivers side and getting in.

“Chlo-bear” Max mumbled into Chloe’s neck as they reached her truck “missed you s’much.”

Chloe winced, eyes closing in pain before she lifted Max into the truck and followed behind her. She buckled Max in and started searching her pockets for her phone. Rachel had already put the car in drive and sped off.

Chloe sighed as she looked through her phone contacts. She was dreading making this call. She stopped as she came across a contact called Mrs. C, and took a deep breath before hitting dial. The phone answered on the 2nd ring.

“Vanessa Caulfield speaking”

“Um, hey Mrs. Caulfield. This is, uh, Chloe… Price. “

“Chloe! It’s so nice to hear from you! How are you doing,” Vanessa said and Chloe could hear the smile in her voice.

“Mrs. Caulfield. I… listen, it’s Max. We’re taking her to the hospital. She-“

“Max? What happened? Has she tried to kill herself again?” Vanessa’s voice was panicked as she spoke. Chloe could hear her screaming in the background for Ryan to come quick.

“What do you mean _did she try to kill herself again?”_ _Chloe let a_ sad sigh escape, “Oh Max, I’m so sorry this happened to you. Vanessa, she didn’t try to kill herself. It looks like she was beaten up... badly. There were 2 guys carrying her, they dropped her to the ground when they saw us coming”

“Oh god,” Vanessa said, as she started crying. “My poor baby. Chloe, you let her know that we will be there as soon as we can.”

“I’ll let her know when she wakes up that you’re on your way.” Vanessa hung up before Chloe finished her sentence. The car was completely silent except for the sound of everyone breathing. Chloe looked at Max again and felt her heart breaking for her childhood friend.

“God damn it,” Chloe screamed as her fist slammed into her dashboard, “I can’t believe I let this happen!”

Rachel sighed, “Chloe. This isn’t your fault. This is the fault of whatever monsters decided it was a good idea to beat up on a school girl.”

“IT IS! IF I HADN’T HELD A GRUDGE SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN WITH US!” Chloe shouted, as guilt ate away at her insides.

Rachel shifted uncomfortably while she waited for a stop light to turn green. “You can be there for her now… WE can be there for her now.”

Two minutes later, Rachel slams on the break and parks the truck. Chloe is out instantly, carrying Max into the hospital while screaming for help. A nurse at the check in desk hurries over, stopping after seeing Max and running off for a gurney. She returns in less than a minute and helps Chloe get Max onto the stretcher. The nurse starts moving Max to a private room while another nurse calls for a doctor over the intercom. A doctor emerges from one room, and hurries into Max’s. The door doesn’t completely close behind him.

A third nurse approaches them to find out what happened.

“My friend was taking me back to school. We were in the parking lot, and when I looked up I noticed them. I pointed it out to Chloe. There were three figures total. We saw them carrying her and decided to get out and help. The dropped her to the ground and took off running. It looked like she hit the ground pretty hard.“ Rachel told the nurse, while Chloe stood back staring at Max’s door while she cried. After talking to the nurse for a while, she went in and updated the team inside the office. After updating them, she returned to the desk and called the police. Officer Barry showed up only 5 minutes later.

“Take these vials to the lab. Tell them it is urgent! We need to know what they used on her,” a nurse said as she hurried to the nurses station and handed off the vials.

Officer Barry approaches the two traumatized girls, while his partner waits to speak with a doctor.

“Could either of you make out anything about the perpetrators,” He asks after they finish retelling the story again.

“It was pretty dark. Some of the lights in the parking lot were out, all we could see was the shadows. I think they maybe both had short hair, and one of them was taller than the other,” Chloe said, as she made eye contact with Officer Barry.

“I’m going to give you my card. If you think of any more important details, I want you to call me immediately.” The officer handed Chloe the card, and made his way over to his partner. She could hear them discussing getting access to her dorm room to see if they could find any clues in there.

There was a silence stretching between Chloe and Rachel as each of them thought about how drastically their evening had changed. The silence was interrupted by a sentence that made Chloe’s blood run cold. 

“I think we need a rape kit.” The sentence came from one of the nurses in Max’s room. Chloe fell against the wall, sliding to the ground as she started crying. She wound up with her face being cradled by her knees. Rachel sat next to her and started rubbing her back to try and sooth her. Chloe heard her phone chime but didn’t really pay any attention.

Rachel glanced at the screen.

Mom October 31, 2013 10:38 pm: Chloe where are you? You said you would be back after dropping Rachel off.

Rachel glances at Chloe before walking a bit away and pulls out her own phone and dials Joyce’s number. It hasn’t even finished its first ring before Joyce picks up.

“Rachel, what is going on? Is Chloe okay?”

“Hey Joyce. Chloe is a bit too distressed to answer her phone right now,” Rachel told her quietly, not wanting to upset Chloe further. “She did take me back to school, but there was a… well, a pretty urgent problem when we got there. Max Caulfield was attacked, and we had to take her to the hospital. Chloe heard someone mention needing a rape kit. She’s not handling it very well right now. Not that I could blame her.”

“Oh no! Not Max! She’s such a sweet girl, she doesn’t deserve this,” Joyce stated sadly, sounding as if she was holding back tears. “Did this happen at Blackwell, or was it on the way to the school?”

“Blackwell, we saw them carrying her body through the parking lot.” Rachel heard Joyce let out a sob. She could hear David in the background asking what was going on. She can tell Joyce has covered the microphone, as she can only make out a little bit of what is being said on the other side.

“Rachel, I’m going to have David drop me off on his way to Blackwell. He’s going to meet some police there and see if he can help in any way. Do you know if anybody has contacted Max’s parents?”

“Chloe did. They’re on their way,” Rachel told her. “I’m gonna go back and sit with Chloe and try to get her to move to an actual chair. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Rachel approached Chloe like a wounded animal, reaching her hand out and placing it on her shoulder. “Come on Chloe, lets get you in an actual chair,” Rachel said before straightening up and holding out her hand for Chloe to take. Chloe looked up at her with red, puffy eyes. Before slowly taking her hand. Rachel tugged her up and led her to a seat in the waiting room, telling her on the way that her mom was coming. Rachel eased her into a chair, sitting next to her and slinging an arm over her shoulder. Chloe rested her head on her shoulder and silently cried.

It was only another 15 minutes before Joyce showed up and wrapped each of them in a hug before settling in a seat on the other side of Chloe. They sat there in silence for an hour before Chloe eventually nodded off. Joyce glanced at Chloe before making eye contact with Rachel.

“I didn’t even know Max was back in town,” she told the petite blond quietly. “Why didn’t Chloe say anything?”

Rachel was silent for a moment before she sighed and responded, “Chloe was upset with Max. There was a big confrontation at the beginning of the year. Max apologized for not contacting her, but Chloe wasn’t ready then. She’s been blaming herself since we found her. I can’t convince her otherwise.”

“Hmm, she was always bull headed,” Joyce gave a sad look to Chloe. “She really hasn’t had the greatest time the last few years. Things were really bad for her in the time between her dad dying, Max leaving and you coming into her life. I’m grateful for you. You’ve been a great friend for her.”

It was almost 3 oclock in the morning before Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield ran into the hospital, hurrying along to the front desk. They were begging for information on Max. The nurse at check in pointed them into the waiting room and told them she would call for Max’s doctor. Joyce stood and greeted them as they walked in, Vanessa slamming into her arms with body wracking sobs. Chloe stood up slowly and approached the people who just 5 years ago had been like a second set of parents. Ryan walked up to her and wrapped her in a hug.

“Thank you for calling Chloe,” Ryan said, voice sounding exhausted. “I don’t think I’ve ever sped so fast in my life.”

“Yeah, it was a bit of a shock to find her like that. Um, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but Vanessa had mentioned that Max had attempted suicide in the past. What Happened?”

“The first time was just six months after our move to Seattle,” Ryan said with dismay, staring at the ground. “Her mental health deteriorated quickly. Between losing your dad and the move she just wasn’t able to get past it. I don’t know if you remember, but before she met you she didn’t really talk to anyone at school. It was the same when we moved to Seattle. She didn’t make friends, then someone found her journal and spread its contents all over the school. Kids started picking on her constantly. I don’t know the whole story, but one day her head got put in a toilet. That set off some sort of chain event. She started hurting herself. We walked into her room to say goodnight, and she was laying on her bed in a puddle of vomit. She had tried to take a bunch of sleeping pills. We rushed her to the hospital, and they were able to save her. They had to use some activated charcoal to stop her from absorbing too much of the medication.”

Chloe had tears streaming down her face as she listened to Ryan’s story. _I feel so terrible. I didn’t know she struggled that much._

“I could have killed those little shits that caused my baby so much pain that she tried to take her own life. It was while she was in the hospital that we found out she had been cutting herself. They were changing her into a hospital gown when they found the marks on her arms. She had been covering them up with hoodies for the past month. Then last year things took a turn for the worse again. Toward the end of the school year someone had spread some more rumors about her. She never told me what they were saying, but I do know that people started bullying her more frequently. Someone also found out she was an IEP student, so people started making fun of that, too. One day Max was riding her bike home from the library. I happened to glance out the window as she pulled up, just in time to see a group of boys in a convertible drive past and throw balloons full of urine at her. I tried chasing them down, but they got away. Later that night I had a bad feeling in my stomach and went in to check on her. She had slit her wrists, thankfully she cut horizontally instead of vertically, and we were able to stop the bleeding. We rushed her to the hospital, and she spent a week there on suicide watch as they adjusted her medications.”

Chloe was shaking with repressed anger, “Those fuckers! I can’t believe anyone could be so cruel.” _I should have given her a chance to talk to me before telling her to fuck off._

“To say she was excited to come back here and see you again would be an understatement.” Ryan told her with a sad smile. “She had convinced herself that you wouldn’t want to talk to her because she had left when she did. I told her that the two of you could blame me for getting the new job, but I guess she kept chickening out.”

Chloe felt like she had been punched in the stomach. _God, I’m such an asshole. I hope she forgives me. Poor Max._ Chloe looked up at Ryan, her face showing a determined, yet grim look. “I’m going to help her through this. I will protect her. If anyone bullies her about this they have me to deal with.”

Ryan smiled at her wanly, and lifted a hand to her shoulder “I know you will.”

“Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield?” the doctor from earlier was standing at the entrance of the waiting room. Chloe watched as they walked over to him and went into a room off the waiting room. She couldn’t see or hear anything coming from there, but 15 minutes later they reappeared with fresh tear tracks down their faces. They all waited with bated breath as the couple approached them.

“They said she is going to be heal physically,” Ryan told them. Vanessa was sobbing into his chest “She has a fractured cheek bone, and 2 broken ribs. They said it looks like she was hit with a blunt object. They said there is a large bump on the back of her head from hitting the ground when they dropped her, and that she was very close to an overdose on GHB. They’re going to continue monitoring her for the rest of the night. The worst part is that they said she was raped by two different people. They better hope the police find them, because if I do, they’ll be dead where they stand.”

“Well, we should probably head home. We just wanted to make sure she was okay before we left,” Joyce told the couple. They hugged each other one last time, and Joyce herded everyone towards the exit. They decided on their way to the truck that Rachel was just going to stay over. It was a quiet drive home. Chloe noticed that step-douche hadn’t returned yet on her way up to her room. The 3 of them fell asleep almost as soon as their heads touched the pillows.


	6. Chapter 6

Hard Reset

MissMagillicuddy

AN: some discussion of rape in this chapter

Blackwell Girls Dorms – October 31, 2013

Kate sat up in bed as she the sound of the stairwell door slamming open. Rapid footfalls hurried up the hallway past her dorm room. She made her way out of bed, curious about what was happening. She hurried to her door and peered into the hallway, eyes widening as she saw a pair of police officers being led into Max’s room by David Madsen. She turned to look the other way and saw another pair of cops at the other end of the hallway talking to Taylor, Dana and Juliet.

“What’s going on,” Kate asked, as she neared the group. Dana turned to look at her with fear in her eyes.

“Max Caulfield was attacked! Can you believe it? It could have been any of us!”

Kate could feel the blood drain from her face as Dana’s words registered in her mind. _It could have been any of us… what if it already happened to me?_ Kate’s mind was going through all the blurry memories she had from the night of the vortex club party. Drinking only water but winding up so out of it that she made out with a bunch of people. Flashes of a bright room and a soft voice.

“-ears to have been raped. Do any of you know if she was supposed to be meeting up with anyone in particular today or what her plans for the evening were supposed to be,” a female officer asked gently, with a slight frown marring her face.

While the other 3 were slowly shaking their heads, Kate felt her stomach sink more. Her memories flashing back to the morning after the vortex club party. Waking up outside her dorm room, feeling bowlegged, having pain in her lower back, and removing her clothing from the night before… finding blood in her underwear. _I wasn’t raped. It was just spotting. I’m still a virgin. God wouldn’t let that happen to me… would you, God? But then, what happened to me that night?_ Kate looked back up and realized that everyone else was looking at her, as if waiting for a response. _What did they ask?_

“I’m sorry. I was missed the question,” she said quietly as she made eye contact with the officer.

“It’s okay. I know it’s a difficult thing to hear,” the officer responded gently with a sad look upon her face. “Do you know if Max was supposed to be meeting anyone tonight or if what her plans for tonight were?”

“Oh, right. Um, she had said something about meeting up with Mr. Jefferson to get some pointers on her photography. Other than that, she didn’t say much. Do you-“Kate paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Do you think I would be able to talk to you in private?”

After the officer nodded, Kate led her into her dorm room. She walked over to her desk chair and collapsed into it, holding her head in her hands. _Hold yourself together, Kate. You don’t know that it happened to you. Just explain the situation to the cop and see what she thinks._ Kate continued covering her face with her hands until she heard a slight clearing of the throat followed by a light, “Miss?”

“S-sorry. I’m sure it’s probably nothing, but about a month ago I went to a party. I remember having a sip of wine and drinking water for the rest of the time… then everything gets kind of foggy. I remember feeling sick and dizzy and not much else. I, apparently, kissed a bunch of boys. Then a student, Nathan Prescott, told me he was going to take me to the hospital.” Kate lowered her hands from her face but continued to stare at the carpet.

“I remember seeing the streetlights passing by while I was in a car. Then I have flashes of a bright room, a soft voice, and a sting in my neck. The next memory I have after that is waking up outside my dorm. I didn’t see marks or bruises or anything, but when I changed out of my clothes there was blood in my underwear and I just felt really off… and gross. Do you think-“Kate cut off and made eye contact with the officer with tears gathering. “Do you think the same thing may have happened to me?”

“Oh honey,” the officer kneeled before her and grabbed a hold of her hands. “I’m so sorry to say this, but it sounds like you were drugged. From the sounds of it, you likely were assaulted in at least some form. This is probably a long shot, but have you washed all of your clothing from that day?”

“Actually, I’ve been in a really bad funk since that night. I haven’t done my laundry for a while. I planned on doing it this weekend.” Kate got up and started searching through the laundry that was piling up on her floor. As she found her clothing from the party the situation fully caught up to her, and she broke down into tears. She felt arms encircle her, one of the hands rubbing her back slowly up and down. Kate continued sobbing in the arms, until she tired herself out. Sniffling, she pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes. “sorry for crying on you.”

“Don’t apologize, sweetheart. I know it can be a difficult thing to accept.” The officer responded as a light knock sounded on the door before it opened, and the partner of the officer entered.

“Everything okay in here?” He asked as he looked at his partner. She gave him a brief shake before turning to look back at Kate.

“Kate, I’m going to take these clothes as evidence, okay? We will find out what happened to you that night. In the meantime, I would like to suggest that you see your doctor for a check-up… and maybe talk to a counsellor?” She said, hearing a slight gasp come from her partner.

“Thanks for talking to me,” Kate said as she led her out the door. Before the door had clicked shut, she heard the partner mutter something about a possible serial rapist.

Kate shuddered as she caught a glance of herself in her mirror. _Why would God let this happen to me? What am I supposed to tell my family? I was supposed to be a virgin until my wedding night! Who will want to be with me now?_ Kate felt like she was a zombie as she made her way back to her bed. It felt like she stared at her ceiling for hours, mind running in circles, before she finally fell asleep.

Chloe groaned as she woke up from a restless sleep, keeping her eyes shut against the light that was filtering into her bedroom. _Ugh, why do I feel so shitty? Did I get drunk last night or something?_ As the grogginess faded from her sleep addled mind her eyes snapped open.

“Max!” Chloe gasped, as she flew into a seated position. She looked around her and saw Rachel slowly blinking the sleep from her eyes. “Fuck. Did last night really happen?”

Rachel looked at her blearily. “I think so. Unless we had a shared nightmare.” Rachel sat up and put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder, grabbing her phone with her other hand. “We’re gonna be there for her, Chloe. We’ll help her get through this.”

“I know. It’s just that I still feel so guilty, and like I co-“ Chloe cut off as she heard Rachel make a choked sound and move her hand from her shoulder to cover her own mouth. “Rach? What’s wrong?”

“Oh god,” Rachel said, as she looked up from her screen into Chloe’s pools of blue. “Dana texted me last night. I guess some officers went there to question everyone in the building. Kate Marsh asked to talk to one of them in private, and when the officers were leaving Dana heard them mention that it sounded like a serial rapist.”

“What the hell is going on in this town? As if Arcadia Bay couldn’t be anymore trashy, now we have a serial rapist? Poor Kate, too. She’s cool. I can’t believe some dickhead would rape her, too. We should drop a bomb on Arcadia and turn it to fucking glass.” Chloe said with a glower as she grabbed a cigarette out of the pack next to her bed and offered one to Rachel.

“This is so fucked up. It seems like the pervert has a type,” Rachel hissed out, as she lit up a cigarette. She took a deep drag from it, blowing it out in a gust before continuing “Apparently shy, petite and pretty is his type. Asshole.”

Chloe grabbed her phone, checking to see if there were any updates from Max’s parents. She glanced up at Rachel as she finished talking, eyes wide. “Uh, you fit two thirds of the type. I’m not letting you out of my sight. I can’t have anything happen to you, too. I don’t have any updates. If I remember right, though, visiting hours start at noon. I want to get there as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, I’ll come with you. We should probably take showers before going, though. You’re pretty rank,” Rachel teased, before rushing out of the room. “But me first!”

Chloe snorted before shooting a quick text to Vanessa to check in and let her know they would be by. She took a drag from her cigarette, watching as her phone lit back up.

Mrs. C November 1, 2013 9:41am: She’s still sleeping. Thank you for checking in on her. I’m sure she’ll be excited to wake up to seeing you!

Chloe stood from her bed and headed to her dresser, pulling out clean clothes and laying them out for after her shower. A knock sounded from the door as she was heading to her desk to use her computer while she waited for Rachel to finish her shower.

“Honey? I think I left my cell phone in your truck. Would you mind grabbling it for me? I went for it myself, but the doors are locked.” Her mom’s soft southern lilt sounded from outside her door. Chloe sighed.

“Sure mom!” she responded, grabbing her keys from her jacket pocket and opening her door. She startled slightly, as she didn’t expect for her mom to still be there.

“How are you doing, sweetie,” the blond asked, as she drew Chloe into a tight hug. Chloe felt herself sink into the hug. She had forgotten how nice it was to hug her mom. She did it so rarely since her dad’s death and her mom’s remarriage.

“I’m… okay, I suppose. I just still can’t believe this happened,” Chloe said, tightening the hug before releasing her mom. “Then Rachel got a text that the same thing may have happened to another girl in their dorm room.”

“What,” David’s voice came from the open doorway of his and Joyce’s room. “What are you talking about?”

Chloe glared at him briefly before deciding it wasn’t worth it today. “Yeah, I guess some officers were there last night. Kate talked to one of them, and as they were leaving someone mentioned a serial rapist.”

“Dammit! This is my fault. I knew our security was lacking. I should have forced them to install security cameras!” He growled out. Joyce gave Chloe another commiserating look before hurrying over to David.

“David, this is not your fault! It’s the fault of whatever monster did this,” Joyce told him before wrapping her arms around him.

“I’ll go grab your phone,” she said, as she headed down the stairs. Chloe squinted in the sunlight as she made her way to her truck and sliding the key in the lock. She spotted her mom’s phone on the seat cushion before she spotted the bag on the floorboard. _Max’s bag. I completely forgot I had that. I wonder if there is anything in there explaining what happened last night._ She grabbed her bag and headed back in the house. As she made her way up the stairs, she saw Rachel hurrying from the bathroom to her bedroom. She paused briefly to give her mom the phone before following the petite blond.

“Rach, I’m gonna take a shower. I found Max’s bag in my truck. I think we should look through it and see if there are any clues,” Chloe said before setting the bag on her bed. “Do you wanna start going through it while I jump in the shower real quick?”

“Of course. That’s a good idea,” Rachel responded, as she dragged a brush through her hair. “We could find information to give the police.”

Chloe nodded and hurried out of the room. She showered quickly, anxious to get back to her room and find some answers. After wrapping her pirate towel around her, and a quick brush of her teeth, Chloe was headed back to her room. As she came in, she saw Rachel sitting on her bed with Max’s bag in front of her. She appeared to be looking through a small stack of polaroid pictures. _Of course, Max has a polaroid. She’s still a little hipster, I guess._ Chloe dressed quickly and joined Rachel on the bed.

“Find anything yet?” She asked, as she finished toweling off her wet hair.

“So far, just some really nice pictures. She’s a really good photographer.” Rachel said softly, setting the stack down and grabbing the next thing in the bag. “Looks like it’s just some pencils.”

Chloe reached in and pulled out a book, flipping open the cover and seeing Max’s handwriting. “Journal, maybe there is something in here.” She flipped to the last page. “June 31st, 2013. Okay, guess that one’s a bust. She paused before closing the journal, seeing an entry talking about how horribly she was being bullied at school. _Poor Max._

She looked next to her and saw Rachel flipping through another book, with a sad look on her face.

“What is it?”

Rachel looked up at her. “Another journal. She was so excited to come back and see you. She also is mentioning being picked on at school. I should have stuck up for her, but I felt like I would be betraying you.”

Chloe felt annoyance for a brief moment, but realized Rachel was right. “Yeah, I probably would have been pissed if I had heard you were sticking up for her. I regret that, now, obviously.”

Rachel nodded, before flipping through to find the last entry. “She wrote an entry yesterday. It looks like she was going to be meeting Mr. Jefferson at a park to work on her photography.”

“You don’t think?” Chloe asked uncertainly. Shifting her head to look into Rachel’s worried hazel eyes.

“I don’t know. I mean, they’re both in his class. It could just be coincidental, but I think we should show this to the police.” Rachel said while checking the bag and pulling out a cell phone. She checked through the messages and didn’t see anything there. Rachel went to the gallery to look at the last pictures taken on the phone. “This picture is definitely in the park, so we know that she went there.”

Chloe reached for the phone pulled the photo closer, trying to see if there were any further clues in the picture. Chloe noticed that there was a parking lot in the background and zoomed in. She turned the phone to face Rachel.

“Do you know if anyone at Blackwell drives any of those cars?” Chloe asked, as Rachel narrowed her eyes in concentration.

“I’m not sure. I don’t really go to the parking lot much. You’re the only person I ever really ride with, and I’m usually just focused on getting to your truck, you know?” Rachel said. A look came across her face. “I know this is probably going to sound crazy to you, but you know who would probably be the person to ask?”

“Uhhh, no?”

Rachel reached her hand out for the phone. Chloe handed it to her and watched her get up and head for the door. The blue haired beauty hurried after her. Watching in confusion as she just crossed the hall to her mom and David’s room. The blond lifted her hand and knocked softly. After a few seconds David opened the door and looked at them in confusion.

“Hey David. Would you see if you recognize any of these cars from Blackwell?” Rachel asked, handing the phone to him. “We realized we had Max’s bag and found a journal entry saying she was meeting Mr. Jefferson at a park to get some direction on her photography. That picture definitely looks like it’s in the park.”

David gave them a surprised look before narrowing his eyes to focus in on the photo. He looked at them, and sighed. “Follow me. I have some pictures of the parking lot in my files in the garage.” Without a backwards glance, he headed down the stairs. Rachel and Chloe shared a look before hurrying after him. They followed him into the garage and watched as he hurried over to his lockers and pulled some files from it. He was already leafing through the file as he made his way back over to them. When he reached his computer he entered his password and opened a drawer and grabbed an adapter out so he could hook up the phone to his computer.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Chloe asked him, as she peeked over his shoulder.

The ex-soldier grunted as he responded. “I’m copying the picture to my computer. It’s a bigger screen, so it’ll make it easier to see if any of the cars match up.”

_Damn it. That’s actually smart. I guess 1 point for David._ Chloe thought, as the picture showed up on his screen. He zoomed in to the parking lot instantly and pulled out his corroborating pictures from the parking lot. He stiffened up as he flipped to the next picture, grabbing it and holding it close to the screen. He set that picture off to the side and grabbed another from his file. He froze again as he flipped to another page and set it with the other picture he had set aside. Chloe hadn’t even had time to open her mouth and ask him what was going on before he had pulled out his own phone and dialed.

“Officer Barry?” He paused as he waited for a response. “This is David Madsen. My daughter was the one who found Max Caulfield last night? They realized they had her bag and looked through it. I think there’s some evidence here you may want to see.”

Chloe’s mind was frozen. _Daughter? What the hell? Since when does he actually think of me as his daughter, and not just his wife’s annoying kid?_ Chloe had missed the whole rest of the conversation, and only came back to her mind as she felt David rest his hand on her shoulder.

“Chloe, you did good. Officer Barry is on his way to pick up the phone and the journal. Could you please go upstairs and grab it?” Chloe nodded, still somewhat shocked, and hurried to grab it.

Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door as David let him in. After speaking with the officer, Chloe and Rachel realized it was almost visiting time at the hospital. The two girls finished getting ready and left. She still wasn’t positive what David had found. _Of course, he didn’t actually TELL me who the car belonged to._

November 1, 2013 – Arcadia Bay Hospital

The first thing that registered in Max’s mind was the sterile smell around her. The second thing was the pain in her whole body. _What the fuck? Why is my body so sore?_ Max tried to open her eyes but wasn’t able to open them completely. _Why can’t I open my eyes all the way? Ow, why does my face hurt? Did I fall out of the hospital bed._ She groaned as she let her head fall back against the pillow and squeezed her eyes shut in pain. _I guess it didn’t work. I’m still in the stupid hospital._ Max tried to roll onto her side and gasped as pain started radiating from her ribs.

“Maxine? Ryan, I think she’s awake,” Max heard her mother shout from the end of her bed. She groaned as she registered the headache pounding in her temples. _What the fuck is going on?_

Max cleared her throat. “What happnd? Did I fall out of bed or somethn?” She slurred out, trying to get her mouth to work properly with her brain. She squinted her eyes open again and looked to her mom who had flinched violently. _She looks more upset than she did yesterday._

“Do you remember anything from last night,” Vanessa asked her as she came up to her, and gently ran her hand through her hair. Max stared at her in confusion. “Baby, you were attacked.”

“What,” Max asked in confusion, looking down the bed at her body. _I guess I really was attacked._ She thought to herself as she noticed the bruises down her arms. “How was I attacked in the hospital?”

“You weren’t attacked in the hospital. You are at the hospital because you were attacked,” Vanessa told her tearfully. “Chloe and her friend Rachel found you outside of Blackwell last night and brought you here immediately. There’s something else I need to tell you.”

_Chloe and Rachel? Holy shit! I did it! I saved them both. I can’t believe it worked!_ Max was so elated it took her a moment to realize that her mom was waiting for her to respond to her. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I need to tell you something else,” Vanessa told her gently, reaching for her hand and gripping it tightly. “Baby, when the doctors were examining you after the attack they found out that you had been raped… by two people. Do you have any idea who may ha-”

Max felt frozen. _What. the. fuck. Is this some sort of fucking joke?_ Max felt like there was an elephant sitting on her chest as her vision narrowed into a pinhole. She was trying to take breaths, but it felt like she couldn’t get any air. _Oh god, what’s happening?_ Max continued gasping for breath and grabbing at her chest to try and remove the weight from there. The world went black.

Max came to awareness again. This time she could hear more voices talking in the room. She kept her eyes closed as she continued trying to understand what had happened. Listening as the voices around her continued speaking

“- she passed out. I should have waited to tell her until she was more stable. I just want to know who did this.” Vanessa’s voices came from the right side of her bed. Max could feel her hand stroking through her hair.

“Actually, I think we may have found something. We realized her bag was in Chloe’s truck, so we went through I,” a soft voice she didn’t recognize came from her left side. She felt someone holding her hand, gently running their thumb over her knuckles. “We found a journal entry that she was meeting Mr. Jefferson at a park to get some advice on her photography.”

“We found a picture on her phone from the park. There was a picture of the parking lot, so my stepdad cross referenced the cars in the photo against the cars he knows from Blackwell,” Chloe’s voice came from right beside her head. “There are officer’s looking into it now.”

Max’s eyes snapped open as she growled out, “Jefferson!” _That mother fucker is still out there somewhere? He probably took me to the dark room. Disgusting bastard._

“Max? Do you remember?” Her mother’s voice came from her right. She turned to look at her. _I mean, I don’t remember from this time, but I remember from the previous timeline. If it was two people that… did what they did, the other person must be Prescott._ Max felt her body shudder in disgust. _Did he rape me in the other timeline, too?_

“The dark room,” Max muttered, looking at her hands. “Jefferson and Prescott took me to a dark room. It was in a barn in the middle of nowhere. I remember seeing a hatch in the floor of the barn open. They took me down there and took pictures.” She had hazy memories of being in the barn the night previously. _Mr. Jefferson smacked me because I was talking. He said I puked on him._

Vanessa’s eyes were wide in horror. “I’m going to call the police and let them know what you’ve remembered. Excuse me for a moment,” Vanessa said, pausing and pressing a brief kiss on Max’s head before leaving the room.

“I’ll fucking kill them,” Chloe yelled and tried to stand. Rachel pressed firmly on her shoulders. Keeping her in the chair.

Max’s head whipped to her. “Absolutely not. I need you here! If you kill them, you’ll go to prison,” she said as she made eye contact with Chloe since waking up. She was instantly drawn into her eyes. Chloe looked at her guiltily for a moment before she spoke.

“How can you stand to look at me,” she asked, sounding disgusted with herself. “If I would have just forgiven you and not been so stubborn, you probably wouldn’t be in that bed.”

“It’s okay, Chloe. You’re here now… when I need you. You also apparently saved me last night, so there is no reason for you to apologize to me,” Max told her, smiling gently. She glanced over Chloe’s shoulder, making eye contact with Rachel. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Rachel.”

Chloe and Rachel shared a confused look before looking back to Max. “Uh, Max? We’ve met before, remember? We have classes together,” Rachel informed her. There was confusion coloring her voice.

_Oh… right. Well shit. Do I tell them the whole story now?_

“Well, actually that was a different Max. I will explain it to both of you as soon as the 3 of us are able to be alone together privately,” she told them quietly, nervous her mom could come back in at any moment. “It’s a story that is going to take some convincing.”


	7. Chapter 7

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: Mentions again of rape. Also bullying in this chapter.

_____________________________________________________

**Arcadia Bay Times** Sunday November 3, 2013

**2 arrested at Blackwell by Spencer Benson**

**_In a shocking turn of events in the city of Arcadia Bay, 2 people have been arrested yesterday at Blackwell. It has come to my attention that Mark Jefferson and Nathan Prescott were arrested yesterday in relation to multiple cases of Rape, kidnapping and assault. This reporter was able to get onto campus last night to get some eyewitness accounts of the events._ **

****

**_Juliet Watson, 18, a student of Blackwell had this to say. “I was on my way to the parking lot when the cops showed up. It was so crazy! One team rushed into the faculty housing and another into the student dorm building. When they escorted Mark Jefferson out of the building, he was screaming about this being a false charge. Nathan Prescott was acting insane. He was talking nonsense about being femi-nazis and how he was being framed. Then the moron tried to run and ended up getting tazed._ **

****

**_Trevor Yard,19, is stating that he was in his dorm room sleeping when he heard the screaming coming from the hallway. He is stating that when he opened his door, he saw Nathan Prescott taking a swing at one of the police officers. He had to be pinned to the ground to be subdued before being dragged out of the building. He is stating that his father owned them and that they would pay for doing this to him._ **

****

**_Luke Parker, 17, states that he was unsurprised when he heard about Nathan Prescott’s arrest. He told this reporter that Nathan Prescott is a bully. He states that he has seen him sent to the principal’s office several times, but that nothing ever happened to him. He states that he believes his actions were ignored due to his family’s investment in Blackwell._ **

****

**_Victoria Chase, 18, states that she doesn’t believe that either of them have done anything they are accused of. She is stating that she is very close with Nathan, and that she has never seen him hurt anybody. Of Mark Jefferson, she states that he is a beloved teacher. He treats everyone in class with respect, and she doesn’t think he would ever do what he is accused of. She states that she thinks the story was made up by students who held a grudge against both of them._ **

****

**_When asked, Principal Raymond Wells stated that he had no comment. This reporter must wonder how the sorts of behaviors were overlooked at this school. Were there any background checks done on the teachers at the school? Whatever the case, Spencer Benson is on the case and I promise to keep everyone updated as the story develops._ **

****

****

Arcadia Bay Hospital

It was another 2 days before Max was alone again with Chloe and Rachel. Max’s parents had decided to go out to lunch at the Two Whales so they could say goodbye to Joyce before they headed home. Max was sitting up in her bed eating hospital pudding while Chloe and Rachel took seats on either side of her. They were there waiting for her to be discharged. She was given the week off of school and was planning on staying with Chloe. Chloe started picking at the leftover fries on Max’s plate.

“Are you seriously going to eat those fries? They’re all cold and soggy,” Max told her giving her a strange look.

“Foods is foods, Maxi-pad.”

“Ughh, are you really gonna start calling me that again,” Max asked, giving her an unimpressed look followed by an eyeroll. “Whatever Chloe…. Blowy?”

“Chloe Blowy,” the blue haired girl questioned with a smirk on her face. “I’m not really into the whole blowjob thing these days.”

Max started choking on her pudding as she sucked in a surprised gasp. She started coughing as she tried to dislodge it. Her whole face was a bright vermillion. Rachel pounded on her back a bit from the other side, snickering loudly in amuzement. After Max was finally able to breath again she gave Chloe an amused smile. “You’re such a dork.”

“I know you are, but what am I,” she responded, doing her best Peewee Herman impersonation. “heheh!”

“Yeah, that definitely proves her case,” Rachel cut in, looking between them with a shit eating grin on her face. She gave Max a wink when they made eye contact. Max gave her a grin back and held up her hand for a fist bump. As Rachel lifted her hand to bump fists she opened her mouth to speak again, “buuuuut… what I really want to talk about is why you said the other day was your first time meeting me.”

“Oh, that,” Max said, averting her eyes to her lap. “You still had my green journal at your house, right? Did you bring it with you like I asked?”

Rachel answered for Chloe by pulling it from her bookbag and handing it over her. Max continued staring at her lap for a bit until she heard Chloe’s throat clear from her left. Max sighed again before she opened her journal to the back and pulled out an envelope she had stashed there from her time in the past. She had never bothered actually sealing it shut, having just tucked the flap of the envelope into itself.

“I guess I should start from the beginning. I just ask that you let me finish my story before asking any questions. When I _originally_ came to school in September, I arrived to a bunch of missing person’s posters all over the school. The posters were of a beautiful girl I hadn’t heard of before. She had blond hair, hazel eyes and a feather earring in her left ear. The first month of school was okay, I guess. I made a couple of friends… Kate, Dana and Warren.” Max paused and lifted her glass of water, her throat felt very dry due to her nerves. “I kept putting off calling the person most important to me, because I was afraid of how pissed she would be at me for not calling. Then, one day, things changed. It was Monday October 7th. I was having a REALLY awful day. First I had a weird vision in class of a tornado wiping out arcadia bay. Then Victoria Chase was being a complete bitch that day and-“

“When isn’t she being a complete bitch,” Rachel muttered under her breath. Looking up, she saw Max and Chloe looking at her. “Sorry, I’ll stay quiet until you finish your story.”

“Go on, Max,” Chloe told her, sharing a quick look with Rachel when Max was distracted that seemed to say _has Max lost her mind?_ Rachel responded with a slight shrug.

“Anyway, that day Victoria made fun of me in front of the whole class.” The freckled girl continued. “I decided that I was going to have a bit of a meltdown and headed to the bathroom so no one would see me. While I was in there a butterfly flew in. I followed after it so I could get a picture. I was in the corner of the bathroom on the first floor, you know, where the fire alarm is? Before I came out of the corner, though, the door opened and I heard Nathan Prescott muttering crazy shit under his breath. Maybe a minute later another person showed up. She was there to try and blackmail him. She had met him at a bar, and he tried to rape her. Unfortunately for her, he showed up with a gun and shot her. The girl was you, Chloe.”

“What? Max, I’m so con-“

“Shhh. Let me finish, okay,” Max begged her with pleading eyes. “I stepped out from behind the stall and lifted my hand on instinct. The next thing I knew, I was back in class before Victoria made fun of me. After class ended, I hurried along to the bathroom. When that fucker was going to shoot you, I set off the fire alarm. You need him in the nuts and left. I thought that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t. Nathan caught up with me in the parking lot and started getting up in my face about what I saw in the bathroom. I tried to get him to leave me alone, but he started getting… violent. He ended up pushing me to the ground, which is when you showed up in your truck “like a Rockstar” as Warren called it. I got in your car and we left. I apologized for being a shitty friend while we made our way back to your place. When we got there, I was looking for some music to listen to and found Rachel’s picture in a lockbox under your bed. It turned out it had been you putting up the pictures. You explained to me how Rachel was there after your dad died and I left. You said she had been missing for 6 months. David showed up a bit later and got mad at you for smoking pot. I covered for you, and we left to the lighthouse. When we were there, I had another vision of the tornado, except this time there was a doe leading me to the lighthouse. I found a newspaper that said the tornado would happen on Friday. When I came out of the vision it started snowing. We spent the next few days trying to find out what happened to Rachel. I proved to you about my time powers by telling you what was in your pockets. My powers seemed to increase throughout the week. I had to freeze time to save Kate from jumping off the Blackwell girls dorms and at one point I realized I could travel in time through photos. I went back and saved William, but when I got back to the present time I was in an altered timeline. You had been in a car accident and had been paralyzed from the neck down. You were dying, and I couldn’t handle that, so I changed it back. Later that week we wound up finding the dark room, which is where we found a binder with Rachel’s pictures. In the pictures they were putting her in the ground. It was at the junkyard. Kinda in a clearing behind the bus. We went there and started digging. Then we found you.” Max had tears streaming down her cheeks as she was talking, “at the time we thought it was just Nathan, so we went to try and find him. We didn’t find him, but got a text saying he was going to destroy the evidence. We went back to the graveyard and saw that you were still there. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear Jefferson coming up behind me. He stuck me with a syringe of ghb and shot Chloe in the head. I was eventually able to go back through different pictures, then David showed up and saved me from that sick fuck. I eventually was able to make it so you were alive. We thought that the storm must have been caused by my powers, so you asked me to use the picture to go back to the bathroom and let you die. I did it, and it was a horrible mistake.”

Max started sobbing, reliving her grief of that time. She felt someone sit next to her and start holding her while shushing and stroking her hair. She knew it was Chloe holding her, but she could feel Rachel rubbing her right arm. That gave her the strength needed to continue the story.

“I fell into a deep depression, so bad I hardly left my room at all. I wound up trying to kill myself. I smashed a mirror in the bathroom and used a shard of glass to slice from my wrist to my elbow on both arms. I just couldn’t live without you anymore. I had hoped with me dead, the 3 of us could have a hella awesome party in the afterlife. Kate and Dana found me and applied pressure with towels until the EMT’s got there. While I was in the hospital, Kate brought me a bunch of my stuff. I found my journal and started reading through it and figured out I could travel back through that, too. I ended up using my journal to travel to when I was packing for school. I slipped one of my older journals into one of my moving boxes. I used that to travel back to March. I went out in March and withdrew a bunch of money, and rewound time so that the money didn’t show up missing from my parent’s account and bought the two backstage passes for Firewalk. I sent them to Chloe along with some gift cards, so you could stay in Portland. I had hoped it would save you both.” Max opened the envelope and pulled out the receipts from Ticketmaster and the receipts for the gift cards and laid them out for the two girls to look at.

Rachel and Chloe were looking at the different receipts laying on Max’s lap. They both appeared to be shocked, each with wide eyes. Chloe started looking from the receipts, to Max, then to Rachel over and over. Finally, her eyes locked in on Max’s and she wrapped her in a tight hug.

“Does this mean that you believe me,” Max said, voice muffled by Chloe’s shoulders. She felt Chloe pull back from her and looked into her eyes.

“Of Course, I do, “Chloe told her eyes looking into her soul with a deep sincerity. “I’m so… sorry you had to go through all of that. There aren’t enough words in the world to tell you how sorry I am. Then to come back and find out you’ve been attacked.”

Rachel wrapped her in a hug from her other side. “I believe you, too. Thank you so much for saving me. It must have been really hard to handle. I owe you my life. Speaking of those sick fucks, did you see the article in the paper this morning?”

“Yes. I can’t believe Bitchtoria is sticking by those idiots. In the other timeline, she was taken by Jefferson,” Max told her. “I just can’t understand how she thinks Kate or I would make this up. Besides, the evidence is overwhelming against them.”The two girls looked at Max with sad looks upon their faces, each of them rubbing her shoulders gently.

“Officer Barry was here last night showing me that they had found my binder there. Some of the pictures in there were horrifying. There was one that was a close up of my face with a hand tangled at the roots of my scalp… readying my mouth for. Well, you know,” Max said with a shudder. “Then Kate texted me that they had showed her own binder yesterday, too. I guess they had even found some empty binders that were labeled for future attempts.”

A knock sounded and the door opened, admitting a nurse with a clip board. “Hey, Maxine! I’ve got your discharge forms for you to sign!”

“It’s Max. Never Maxine… and hi Layla. I’m glad it’s time to leave. No offence,” She told her, reaching out her hand for the clip board.

“Yeah, yeah,” She responded, handing her a pen so she could sign. “I’ve also called and set you up with a follow up appointment with a primary care provider. They will be able to refer you to a counselor.”

Max nodded as she signed her papers. In five minutes, she was on her way out to Chloe’s truck. She smiled as she saw the familiar truck. As they neared the car Rachel ran ahead and opened the door for her. Chloe walked around to the driver’s side and got in. As Max reached Rachel, she received a wink.

“I’ll let you sit in the middle… next to Chloe,” the hazel eyed girl said with a smirk. “Oh, also, I went into your room and packed a duffle bag, so you don’t have to go back at all this week if you don’t want to. Also, I’m staying tonight. We can have a girls night!”

Max blushed a little bit as she climbed into the truck and sat between the two girls. The 3 girls made it to Chloe’s house by 2:30. Chloe grabbed Max’s bag as they got out of the car and carried it up the stairs, the other 2 girls following behind her. As the door to Chloe’s room opened, a large grin spread across Max’s face. _Feels like home._ Max’s phone started ringing, and as she pulled it out of her bag she saw it was Kate calling her. She signaled to the other 2 that she was going to take a moment to answer the call, and pressed the button.

“Hey Kate! Guess who got out of the hospital,” Max told her, as Chloe unpacked her bag and put it in her drawers. Max hid a smile, which quickly faded off her face as she heard Kate’s sniffling. “What’s wrong?”

“Max,” came the tearful response.

Blackwell 2 hours earlier

Kate stormed towards the dorm room, tears streaming down her face. She could not understand the conversation she had just had with her mother. Her ears were still ringing in remembrance of the screaming. _Harlot. Whore. Jezebel. Loose. Just a few of the things she said about me._ She rushed up the stairs and was feet away from her room, when her shoulder was grabbed violently from behind.

“Hey Kate,” Victoria said as she pushed her against the wall, “Oh, are you crying? Hope you’re not going to make up any stories about anyone else today.”

“I didn’t make up ANYTHING, Victoria,” Kate told her firmly. “Just because you can’t see the flaws in any of your friends, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Now, I’ve had a bad day. Why don’t you just leave me alone?”

“Oh please,” the girl with the blond pixie cut snorted. “As if either of them would touch a loser like you. You just wanted to make something up so people would stop teasing you about your porn video. You just didn’t want to be know as a viral slut, so you tried to make it seem like you did it against your will. You’re a stupid skank.”

Kate felt the tears welling up in her eyes, as Taylor and Courtney giggled behind Queen V. With those tears, though, she felt her anger rising as well. _How dare she? She doesn’t know what I’ve been through._

“It wasn’t just me, though. I think that the fact that there are more people than just me claiming it happened should be a clue,” She told her in a firm voice.

“If you’re talking about Max Cuntfield, you may as well save your breath,” Victoria laughed, as Taylor and Courtney burst out into loud laughter behind her. “Everyone knows that she is lying because she was mad that Mark, Mr. Jefferson, took me to San Francisco. She blamed Nathan because she know’s he’s like a brother to me. She just wanted to get back at me.”

“If she was making it up, how did she end up in the hospital,” Kate growled back at her. “and if either of us were making it up, how come the police told each of us that they were able to arrest them because of the evidence they found connecting them to the crimes?”

“Whatever,” Victoria said, “I’ll believe it when I see it… whore.”

Kate’s limit was reached. Her hand flew out into a smack as quick as a flash. Victoria’s head whipped to the side, releasing a gasp of surprise. Her head slowly turned back to look at Kate, shock evident in her eyes. Kate was sure there was shock resonating in her own. The shock was quickly fading as she lifted her hand and slapped her in the face again. For the first time in her life… Kate Beverly Marsh had snapped, and it felt like a release. No more holding her anger back, no more holding her tongue when people were rude. She was going to speak her mind.

“Shut the fuck UP you stupid fucking bitch,” Kate yelled, as she got up on her tiptoes and screamed in Victoria’s face. “I can’t wait for you to find out the guys you worship are absolute pieces of garbage! You should feel grateful that you weren’t one of their victims, you vapid, shallow skank! You have no idea what it feels like to be violated in that way.”

“Dude! Did you, like, seriously just hit Victoria,” Taylor asked, looking at her in shock. Courtney stood there staring between the two of them with her jaw dropped. Victoria’s shock was slowly clearing away. There were blooms of red on her cheeks, as embarrassment at being slapped in the face by the little Christian girl in front of her grew. Many of the dorm room doors were flying open to see what was going on.

“How dare you touch me,” She screamed as she backhanded Kate across the face, one of her rings, causing Kate’s lip to split. Kate tasted blood. Literally and figuratively. Kate didn’t make a conscious decision to do so. One moment she was standing by her dorm, the next she had tackled Victoria to the floor and the two of them had started fighting. Victoria had a handful of Kate’s blond bun, and was crying out for Taylor and Courtney to help her. Her other hand was blocking and returning hits to the girl on top of her. Kate was sitting on her chest, getting hits in every few hit’s between blocks, screaming in her face.

The fight seemed like it lasted forever, but it was probably less than a minute before Dana and Juliet were peeling Kate away from Victoria. Alyssa stood between the two fighting girls, while Taylor and Courtney held Victoria back. One of the student’s must have run outside to look for a teacher, because Mrs. Grant was already heading towards the two of them with a stern look on her face. The two girls didn’t even see her coming. They were too busy still screaming at each other around their friends.

“Girls! Stop this behavior this instant,” Mrs. Grant roared out over them, so she would be heard. Victoria and Kate stopped screaming instantly and looked at their teacher. She looked furious, as she grabbed each of them by an arm and marched them back to the school to Principal Well’s office. Within 10 minutes, the opponents were sitting in chairs in front of Principal Well’s desk, as he glared at them disapprovingly.

“What happened?”

“Victoria said that I was lying about the rape, and was just trying to recover from the viral video the night I was drugged,” Kate said tearfully. “When she called me a whore, I snapped and smacked her a couple of times. She backhanded me, and next thing I knew we were on the ground fighting.”

“Victoria, what is your side of the story,” Principal Wells asked, as he steepled his fingers together and gave her an angry look.

“I was merely asking her if she was making up the story, because I know the two of them well. I know they wouldn’t have done that. I wasn’t bullying her and I definitely never called her a whore,” Victoria replied, trying to sound innocent. “I just asked her a question and she went crazy and hit me.”

“You lying bitch,” Kate yelled in fury. _Is she seriously going to lie like this? She is awful!_

“Kate,” Principal Wells said sternly. “please watch your language. Victoria, I find it extremely hard to believe that that was the way everything happened. Now, I happened to see proof of the two of their crimes, just so I can disillusion you of that thought. I, along with other members of the staff, was shown some binders of other victims to see if I could identify any of them. You should maybe consider the fact that this could have happened to you. Since you spent a weekend with him in San Francisco.”

“It’s not rape if it’s willing,” Kate glowered at Victoria, “The way she was with Jefferson, I wouldn’t be surprised if she threw herself on the ground at his feet and begged him. She’s so -”

“Kate,” He interrupted, “That is enough. Both of you won’t say another word for the rest of this meeting. This is a disciplinary meeting. We do not condone bullying or fighting. Therefore, each of you will be suspended from school for 5 days. Kate, since you live locally, you will be asked to go home for that time. Victoria, since your family is in Seattle, you may stay in your dorm room. Hopefully, a week away from each other will calm you both down. If anything like this happens again, you will both be expelled. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir.” The 2 girls muttered, Victoria glaring off to the side, and Kate staring forlornly at the floor. Inside, Kate was panicking. _What the hell am I supposed to do? I will not go back to my parent’s house just so I can be called a whore in front of my little sisters. Oh god, mom’s gonna have a field day when she finds out I was suspended. She could feel a breakdown coming. She needed to get to her room, pack and figure out where the hell she was gonna go._

The two of them were dismissed from the office and escorted back to their dorm rooms by Mrs. Grant. She spent the whole time reading them the riot act. She told them that women need to stick together, not bring each other down. Neither of the blonds said a word to each other. When they reached their dorm rooms, they went their separate ways without so much as a glance between them. Kate slammed her door shut and stalked over to her computer chair, sitting in it and taking a few deep, calming breaths. It didn’t help. She could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks, as her shoulders shook with silent sobs. After a few minutes of pity, she stood up from her desk and made her way over to her mirror. _I look like shit. I can’t believe I got in a fight._ She turned her head from side to side looking at the damage. _Split lip, black eye, bruised cheek._ She looked at her hands. _Bloody knuckles._

She felt the anger in her rising, eyes narrowing in on the cross on her neck. **_God loves everyone._** _Except, according to mom, for whores like me._

“Fuck you, God,” Kate growled out. “Are you gonna smite me? Show me you’re real!” _nothing… of course. Have I been lied to my whole fucking life?_ Kate ripped the cross from her neck and threw it in the direction of her garbage can.

“God damn it,” She shouted at the top of her lungs, pausing to see if anything happened. _Again, nothing. “_ Fuck this.”

Kate stormed back over to her desk and grabbed a pair of scissors before heading back to her mirror. She pulled the hair tie from her hair and let it down. Her blond hair hung past her shoulders, shimmering in the light coming in through the window. She Grabbed the ends pulled it out from her head and cut. Since her scissors were for paper products, and not the razor sharp ones hair stylists use, the hair didn’t cut in one smooth motion. She had to clip several times before all the hair was detached. The next several minutes were spent giving herself a haircut. She was trying to make it even, but every time she cut one side, the other side didn’t match. _Shit. I messed it up. I need to stop and get this fixed._ One side was already at her lower lip line. _I look like a freak._ She felt tears welling in her eyes. She needed to talk to someone before she had a panic attack. She pulled out her phone and automatically dialed Max.

“Hey Kate! Guess who got out of the hospital!”

Kate started sniffling, as she tried to restrain her tears.

“What’s wrong,” Max asked her, sounding very worried. Kate started sniffling again.

“Max,” she said tearfully. “Everything is wrong. My mom told me I’m like jezebel. She told me I bring shame to her and the church. Then I got in a fight with Victoria. She was saying awful things about the two of us. I snapped when she called me a whore and hit her. Then we started fighting on the ground. We had to go see the principal, so now I’m suspended for a week. Since my family lives locally, I’m not allowed to stay in the dorms. I can’t go home to a family that thinks I’m shameful. On top of that I think I just fucked up my hair! What am I supposed to do?”

“Kate, I’m at Chloe’s. We’re going to come get you, okay? I’m not going to let you be alone in this. We’re gonna have to try to stay out of sight of cops, since we only have a 3-seater car and 4 of us, but we’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about your hair. We’ll go to a salon and get it fixed, okay? I want to get mine done, too. Then maybe we can go shopping for some clothes or something. We were planning on having a girls night anyway, so the more the merrier. Also, I hope you kicked Victoria’s ass. She’d deserve it for being so horrible. I’ll call you when we get there, okay?”

Max saw Rachel and Chloe’s head’s whip around with evil grins as they heard that last bit of the conversation. Max waited for Kate’s response before disconnecting the call.

“I hope you guys are okay with having Kate join us. She’s suspended for the week, and Principal Wells is telling her since her family is local she has to stay at her family’s place… except her mom just told her this afternoon she is a shame on the family”

“Oh, poor thing,” Rachel said, as she swiped her hair behind her ear. “Of course, we don’t mind. Kate is so sweet, and it is awesome that she beat up Victoria... the skank.”

“Awesome,” Max said with a grin, and checked her bag to make sure she still had the envelope with the money from her travel through time. Smiling when she saw the $1200 she had held back from that day. _Well, that’s gonna be useful._ “Kate and I are wanting to get haircuts, do you guys wanna come with us? Then I thought maybe we could do some shopping.”

“Sure, sounds good. What are you wanting to do with your hair,” Chloe asked as she smiled at her. An image of her hair being crammed in Jeffershit’s fist came flashing into her mind. _I should cut it the fuck off. Maybe color it a fun color?_

“I’m thinking maybe a fauxhawk,” She said, ending in a question. “Do you think I’d look ugly with a fauxhawk?”

“No way! You’d look so badass,” Chloe said, as she grabbed her keys and the three of them headed for Blackwell.


	8. Chapter 8

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: mentions of rape and more people encouraging rape culture. Also underage drinking and recreational drug use.

The petite blond was already sitting on the Blackwell steps when the truck pulled to a stop, a hood of her sweater pulled up over her head and an overnight bag sitting on the step at her feet. Kate was on her feet heading towards the truck before Chloe had even put it in park. Max jumped out of the car and headed for her, wrapping her in a one armed hug.

“Are you okay,” Max asked pulling back and looking at her face, taking in the split lip. “Looks like she landed a couple of good hits.”

Kate winced a little, “You should see the other guy.”

Max laughed and walked with her to the truck, setting her bag in the back and climbing in next to her. Chloe and Rachel greeted her as she got in. Kate gave a shy smile and a wave in return. They decided to drop off Kate’s bag at Chloe’s house before heading to a salon.

“I already told my mom about your home situation. She said you could stay with us this week if you wanted,” Chloe told Kate with a gentle smile as she opened the door and led her up to her bedroom. Max and Rachel were going to wait in the car. “Fair warning, it’s a bit messy.”

“It’s fine,” Kate told her as she looked around before setting her bag on the bed. The two of them hurried back down the stairs and back into the car before heading off to a salon Rachel had heard of called Scissors of Oz. When they pulled up, they saw the sign in the window claiming that “walk-ins are welcome”. Chloe felt right at home when they all walked in and saw bright, colorful hair all around them. A girl with multicolored dreadlocks and several facial piercings was taking a payment at the reception desk. On one of the walls was a mural of a steampunk themed Wizard of Oz.

“Hey ladies! I’m Jackie, but everyone just calls me Peaches. Can I help you,” The lady at the desk asked, as her previous client made her way past them. Her eyes landed on Chloe’s arm. “That’s a sweet tat, girl.”

“Thanks,” Chloe responded “I, uh, actually designed it myself. We were hoping you had opening’s for a couple of haircuts. My friends here wanted change.”

“I actually started the process of cutting my hair,” Kate told her, lowering her hood for the first time since they picked her up. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go well.”

“Oh my,” Peaches said as she looked at her hair critically, “It looks like you went Edward Scissorhands on it. I’ll see what we can do. If I could just get you to sign in while I clean up my station. Hey Pipes, how much longer do you have on your client?”

“Maybe 10… 15 minutes top,” came the response from the other side of the salon. Pipes was a petite girl with blond hair so light it looked white down to her waist. However, when she moved her head, the hair would flow around revealing hidden layers of multiple colors.

“I wanted to get a cut and color,” Max said as she walked up and signed in after Kate. Peaches nodded at her and walked over to her own station and started cleaning up. She returned a few minutes later, and led Kate over to her seat, draping her with a cape that had the body of Steampunk Dorothy on it. She sat in the chair at the station next to her and started doing her consultation. In another 10 minutes Pipes was finishing up with her client. After cleaning up her station, she led Max back. Max noticed that Peaches had already started on Kate’s hair, and that she must have decided to do some color because she was flipping through color swatches.

Max was sat at Pipes station and immediately draped in a cape with the body of the Wicked Witch on it. During her consultation 2 other stylists had taken off for the day. Chloe and Rachel were given the option to hang out at their stations so they could be in the same area as their friends. After having her hair cut, Pipes started applying bleach to her hair so the color would go on better. As she was applying the last of the bleach, Kate’s phone started ringing on the opposite side of Max. She grabbed her phone with a muttered sorry and answered it, putting it on speaker so it wouldn’t get in the way.

“Hi mom,” She said nervously. She hoped her mom was calling to apologize, but she doubted it. Her mother was stubborn, and holier than thou. She couldn’t remember a time she had ever apologized for anything.

“Kate Beverly Marsh,” the snooty sounding voice came from the other line. “I just got a call from Blackwell. As if your behavior lately wasn’t bad enough, now you’re suspended for FIGHTING? I raised you better than that. When you come home this week, I think we’re going to have to discuss pulling you from Blackwell.”

“What do you mean bad behavior? I didn’t do anything wrong,” Kate told her firmly. “I got in a fight with that girl because she was insinuating that I was lying about the rape and then called me a whore… and after the way you treated me earlier, you’re out of your mind if you think I’m going home this week.”

“If you had been on better behavior, they wouldn’t have touched you,” her mother responded back to her. “You must have been advertising to them that you wanted it.”

“Are you fuckin serious right now, lady,” Peaches asked with disgust as she brushed the color into Kate’s hair. “As long as there is no consent, it is rape. What time period are you from, the 1900’s? This is 2013. Leave that women should be seen not heard bullshit in the past.”

“Excuse me? I don’t know who you are but you stay out of this,” she responded, sounding exasperated that anyone would argue with her. “I can’t say I disagree with the other girl. Sleeping with 2 boys in one night! I’m so ashamed you’re my daughter. I can’t describe how disgusted I am with you… knowing that you’re going to burn in hell”

“I didn’t choose to sleep with ANYONE that night,” Kate screamed at her. “I’m ashamed to be your daughter. I don’t think I even believe in heaven or hell right now, but if it is real, can you save me a seat? You’re definitely going to burn in the deepest pits if it exists.”

“How dare you ta-“

“Shut the fuck up, and don’t ever talk to me again,” Kate shouted at her and clicked to hang up the call. She growled as it immediately started ringing again and hit ignore. Peaches showed her how to block certain numbers while Kate’s shoulders were shaking with suppressed sobs. “I hate her so much. I can’t believe I ever thought I deserved to be treated the way she treated me.”

“She sounded really awful. I’m sorry you had to deal with that growing up,” Chloe said, looking at her sadly.

“It’s not your fault,” Kate told her frowning. “I was so sheltered my whole life. I wasn’t allowed to cut my hair shorter than my midback. I couldn’t watch anything on TV except for Veggie tales or things like The 700 club. I’ve never been allowed to wear jeans because _good Christian girls were skirts or dresses_. I’m 18, and I plan to experience it all.”

The next hour passed quickly. Pipes and Peaches were finishing up the styling of the girl’s new hairstyles. Chloe and Rachel were having a spin off to see who could spin in the chairs for the longest before getting too dizzy. Max was watching them in amusement, as Pipe’s used a blow dryer and brush to style her hair up into the fauxhawk. Max heard a gasp come from the other side of the room and glanced to see Kate looking in the mirror, gawking at her reflection.

“Is that really me,” she asked as she ran her fingers through the short hair. It went from short on her left side, to a bit longer on the right, It had a lot of layers and 3 different shades of pink giving it a lot of definition. She smiled as she continued looking at it.

“That looks really sweet,” Rachel told her, coming up next to her and running her own fingers through it.

“I’m glad you like it,” Peaches said, and started going through after care instructions. “So you are going to want to wash it as little as you can get away with. You’re also going to want to buy some shampoo for colored hair, as it doesn’t have sulfate’s in it. Also, you’re going to want to wash it in cold water. If you use hot water the color will fade more quickly. Behind Kate, Max was being turned back towards her mirror. She gasped when she looked at it. She had gone for a fauxhawk, and had colored it violet at the roots and magenta on the ends.

“I can’t believe I’m able to pull this off,” She exclaimed in excitement. Turning her head from side to side to look at her reflection.

“You look hardcore, Max,” Chloe told her with a sincere smile. Max smiled back at her as they all made their way up to the counter to pay. They scheduled appointments for 6 weeks out, and headed out the door, waving goodbye to Peaches and Pipes over their shoulders. Chloe kept stealing glances at Max on the way to her truck, blushing when she realized that Rachel was smirking at her from her other side. After spending almost an hour and a half at a thrift store, the girls headed back to Chloe’s, the back of the truck filled with the bags of their shopping. They made a quick pit stop at Frank’s trailer to pick up some goodies for the night. Which ended up taking longer than anticipated because Rachel insisted on giving Frank a long goodbye kiss for getting them booze and weed, while Max and Kate wouldn’t stop giving Pompidou belly rubs.

When they got to Chloe’s house, she made a stop in the garage to throw all of the clothing from the thrift shop into the washer, while Rachel ran up the stairs to stash the other items in Chloe’s room until her mom and David went to sleep. David was in the garage while she was throwing the clothes in the washer.

“Hey, do you think you guys would care if we made a camp fire in the back yard tonight,” Chloe asked, as she turned to face David. She somehow didn’t feel the animosity towards him that she always had before. Maybe because he helped her catch the assholes that had hurt one best friend, and would have killed the other.

“You’re actually asking for permission to do something,” He said with sarcasm dripping from his voice, “who are you, and what did you do with Chloe?”

“Harhar. You guys are letting Max and Kate stay here for the week while they’re off school. I really appreciate that,” Chloe muttered quietly. “They have had a pretty difficult week.”

“If you want to have a campfire, that’s fine.,” He told her. “Just… please don’t burn down the house?”

Chloe snorted, and rolled her eyes, “We won’t.” she said, as she turned and walked into the living room. She saw that the other 3 were already in there. Max and Rachel were sitting on the couch at opposite ends, each leaning against the arm rests, and Kate was sitting in on the floor using the coffee table to paint her nails. Chloe smiled and climbed over the back of the couch, sitting in between her two best friends. Max glanced up at her from her phone and smiled.

“I’m ordering some pizza, is your favorite still pepperoni and mushroom?”

“It’ll always be my first choice in pizza, but if no one else wants it I can have something else.”

“It’s still my favorite, too,” Max told her pressing the button to add that to her cart. “What kind of pizza do you girls like?”

“I like sausage and pepperoni,” Kate responded while focusing on trying to get the nail polish even while using her non-dominant hand.

“That sounds good, but can we add bacon to half of it,” Rachel asked as she flipped through the channels on TV.

“oooh, go back,” Chloe yelled out, “I think that was Blade Runner!”

Max laughed as she stood up and walked towards the kitchen where she heard Joyce doing the dishes. _Same old Chloe. Gods, I missed her so much!_ She stood by the Island watching Joyce as she worked at the sink. She had a smile on her face and looked very relaxed.

“Hey Joyce,” Max said as she finally walked over to her. Joyce continued scrubbing at a pain, focusing in on a spot that didn’t want to clean up. “I’m ordering some pizza. Do you and David want some? My treat as a thank you for taking me in this week.”

“Oh Max, you are such a sweetie,” Joyce said as she finally glanced over to her. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Max Caulfield, you changed your hair! You look stunning with the short hair!”

“Thanks, Joyce. I needed a change,” she responded with a slight blush in her cheeks, “so, did you want some pizza?”

“Sure, but I can chip in. It’s not nec-“

“No, I insist. Just let me know what kind,” Max interrupted her. _I’m gonna out stubborn you today, Joyce._ She giggled as Joyce let out a put upon sigh and released a smile to her.

“We like supreme,” the older woman told her with a grin, “but if you insist on buyin dinner, I’m gonna make you gals something good for dinner tomorrow.”

“Whatever you say, Joyce.” Max headed back into the living room to finish the order. She added a couple of 2 liter’s of soda and a giant brownie for them all to share for desert and submitted the order. While the movie was in a commercial break, she was scrolling through her facebook feed. She came across a post that was made by Juliet of the Victoria after she had been in the fight. The caption said “this is what happens when you’re an awful person who makes fun of rape victims. She let out a giggle.

“Damn, Kate. It looks like you whooped her ass,” she said, as she turned the phone to face the other girls. Rachel and Chloe leaned in close to get a good look, with an exclaimed “booyah bitch” coming from Chloe. Kate blushed a bit and wouldn’t look at the 3 of them, embarrassed at receiving praise. Rachel giggled and ruffled her hair in affection. Max glanced out the window and saw that the sun was starting to go down. “Do you think we should set up the fire while it’s still a bit light out, so we can see what we’re doing?”

“That’s probably a smart idea,” Chloe answered, glancing outside herself. “Wanna help me set it up? We can each grab 2 camp chairs from the garage, and head out there. I think David has some lighter fluid in the garage as well.”

Max nodded, and the 2 girl’s grabbed the chairs and lighter fluid as they headed out to the backyard. They went to the middle area of the yard, away from anything else, and started arranging the chairs and the pieces of wood that Chloe found in the corner of the yard. After they had set everything up, Chloe pulled out her cigarettes and lit one up. The end lighting bright orange in the dusk. Max eyed her for a moment before reaching out her hand toward Chloe.

“Can I try it?” Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise before she handed it over to Max. She took an inhale on it and immediately started coughing. “sm- cough- smooth.” She tried another drag on it before handing it back to Chloe. They took turns passing it between them. Max only taking one drag at a time. The sliding door behind them opened, and Rachel peeked her head out.

“Max, I think the pizza guy just pulled in. Do you want me to grab the cash from your bag,” she yelled out across the yard.

“Nah, I’ll come in and get it. I’m keeping track of it on the envelope,” she told her in response and headed back towards the house. She grabbed the money out of her bag on her way to the door, and opened the door. “Oh, hey Luke”

“Hi Max,” he told her, staring at her in confusion. “I didn’t know your family lived in town, too. Glad to see you’re out of the hospital. I was really sorry to hear what happened to you.”

“This is actually Chloe’s, my best friend since childhood, house,” She told him as she handed him the total plus a 20 percent tip. “I don’t need any change. Thanks for your well wishes.”

“Thanks, not everyone tips the delivery driver. Oh, by the way, I like your haircut.”

“I’ve always been taught that you should tip for delivery. Thanks. I just got it done today. Well, have a good night… and drive safe!”

Rachel came up behind her to help her grab the 2 liters of soda, giving a wave to Luke before he left. The two of them walked into the kitchen and set the food down on the counters. Chloe was already pulling out paper plates for them to use for the pizza, while Kate pulled out a stack of plastic cups. They all started piling their plates with pizza, and filled their cups with soda before heading to the table to eat. David even came in from the garage for a bit and listened to them laughing and giggling together. Chloe seemed so different than usual.

After they were all full, they cleared up the pizza and spent the next hour playing card games at the table while they waited for Joyce and David to head upstairs. Rachel was explaining poker to Kate while Chloe shuffled the deck of cards again. They had just finished playing spades and were going to start in on Texas holdem. Rachel wound up wiping the floor with the other 3 girls. Max briefly considered using her powers to win, but then decided that since this was just among friends, and there wasn’t any prize it would be pointless. _Though in the future I could make a killing at a casino._

After the elder adults had gone to bed, Rachel ran up the stairs to grab the goodies, while Chloe ran out to the garage to change the laundry over to the dryer. Max ran into the garage to look for a cooler for ice while Chloe was in there. She pointed off into the other section of the garage. Max found the cooler quickly and headed back to the kitchen, grabbing the bag of ice out of the freezer and closing it into the cooler so it would stay cool. She also through put the 2 liters in there and reached in the fridge to pull out some juice so they would have things to mix with the alcohol.

She met Rachel and Kate outside. Kate was watching Rachel dancing around the wood while randomly squirting lighter fluid onto it. She eyed them for a moment before asking them if she could show them a trick, as she trusted they would keep it between them. She faced towards the fire and held her hand towards it and felt something swoop through her stomach. The fire lit up instantly, with no matches or lighters.

“Did you just… light a fire with your mind,” Kate asked, staring at her in awe with wide eyes. She looked at Max to share her shock.

“You have powers, too” Max asked her, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders to find out she wasn’t the only person around. “I’m so glad I’m not alone with this.”

“Wait, you’re saying you have powers,” Kate asked her in astonishment.

“Yeah, I can rewind time. Not super far back. I’m weary about doing it ever again because in an alternate timeline I caused a tornado that flattened Arcadia Bay to the ground.”

Kate was staring at her with her mouth open wide. “wow… I wonder if Chloe or I will get powers.”

“I think my power is being awesome,” the blue haired girl joked as she joined them around the fire. “or bein’ smokin’ hot.”

“yeah, that’s your power,” Rachel said sarcastically, while inside her mind Max was thinking that she could buy that. The girls settled down, discussing the powers between them for a few minutes before deciding to dig into the goodies. Chloe pulled out a joint that Frank had pre-rolled when Rachel asked him to. Rachel was putting ice into 4 plastic cups while eyeing the alcohol they had. She mixed them each up a fuzzy navel and passed them around. Chloe lit the joint and put it to her lips taking a drag and holding it in for several seconds before releasing the breath and passing it to Max. Max tried to copy her, but the taste and sensation of smoking pot were so knew for her that she immediately started coughing.

“How does your body get used to this?” she croaked, as she handed the joint off to Kate. She took several mouthfuls of her fuzzy navel to clear the taste from her mouth. “Now this is good. It doesn’t even taste like alcohol.”

She watched as Kate took a hit off of the joint and was able to actually hold it for a couple of seconds before coughing. The four of them continued passing the drug around the fire, telling stories and having a good time. After the fuzzy navels, Rachel mixed them all UV blue and Mountain Dew. Max really liked that as well. They also had Jack and Coke and a bottle of tequila. Around 12 in the morning they wound up playing truth, dare or drink. If you didn’t want to tell the truth or do the dare, you could also take a shot.

“Kate, truth or dare,” Chloe asked her while blowing out smoke from a cigarette she had lit, handing the lit cigarette to Max who wanted to try it again.

“Whys this better when m’ tipsy,” She asked Chloe as she took a couple of drags off of it before handing it back to her. Chloe just patted her head before looking back to Kate.

“mmm’ Truth. Also… do you think I could try that?” Chloe’s eyebrows rose as she handed the cigarette across to Kate. She took a drag off it, made a considering face. “That isn’t bad.” She took another drag before handing it back to Chloe.

“Okay. Let me think… who at Blackwell do you have a crush on,” Chloe asked her, giving her a cheeky grin as she turned red. Kate mumbled under her breath so quietly that none of them could hear her. Kate sighed before looking back at Chloe.

“I said Justin Williams,” Kate responded, quickly averting her gaze. Rachel wolf whistled and clapped.

“I thought for sure you were gonna say Warren,” Rachel told her giggling in drunken delight. “I think you and Justin would actually be kinda cute together. He’s a sweet kid.”

“Warren isn’t my type at all, but Alyssa has a huge crush on him. She stays away from him, though, because Brooke hate’s any other girls spending time with him.” Kate said, before taking a deep gulp of from her drink. “Rachel, truth or dare?”

“Dare,” she said, giving a challenging eyebrow raise.

“I dare you to… sneak into Mr. and Mrs. Madsen’s bedroom and steal a pair of his boxer’s and wear them on your head for the rest of the night,” Kate told her, bursting into giggles at end of her sentence.

“I think I’ll drink. They could be bangin in there right now,” Rachel said, ignoring Chloe gagging next to her, and grabbing the bottle uv blue and taking a shot. Chloe grabbed the bottle from her and took a drink from it, mumbling about wiping the imagery from her mind.

“Max on, Max off… Truth or dare,” The blond asked with an evil grin while Max looked at her in amusement.

“Definitely dare. I’m not afraid of you.”

“I dare you to kiss Chloe full on the lips for 5 seconds!”

“What,” Max sputtered, heart stopping for a second before heat bloomed in her cheeks. Mind flashing back to the other timeline, wondering at how two such similar situations could happen.

“I double dare you. Kiss her now,” Rachel said giving her a wink, and holding out the bottle of Jack “Bet she’ll drink, right?”

Max stood from her chair and stumbled having to catch herself over towards Rachel. She leaned over Chloe’s chair, reaching for the bottle, but at the last second faked her out, put a hand on Chloe’s cheek, and pressed a kiss to her lips.

“Damn, Max. You’re hardcore,” Chloe told her, with a faint blush on her cheeks.

“That wasn’t 5 seconds,” Kate shouted from the other side of the fire, grinning maniacally. Rachel nodding in agreement. Max heart was racing as she leaned back in and started moving her lips against Chloe’s surprised when she started pressing back. Rachel cleared her throat, and the two girls jumped apart. That was more like 30 seconds, but whatever. Max was heading to her chair to sit down, when she realized she urgently had to pee, and started wiggling on the spot.

“Guysss. I have t’ pee. I don’t know if I can make it all the way up the stairs.” She wiggled in place for a few more minutes, looking at her friends urgently.

“You could go squat in a corner. We probably don’t want to all keep running in and out for bathroom breaks. We could wake up the ‘rents,” Rachel said. “Which would probably be bad.”

As Max was running and stumbling across the yard she heard Kate snicker and say something about ‘unless the rents are bangin’, followed by Chloe gagging again. As she returned to them, she realized they were waiting for her to take her turn.

“Rachel, Truth or Dare,” she asked the blond at Chloe’s other side.

“Dare,” the blond said smirking.

“I dare YOU to kiss KATE for 5 seconds,” Max said triumphantly. Rachel looked at her with a smirk and shook her head in wonder.

“Booorrrring,” She whined. “Not that Kate is boring, but have you no imagination?’

Kate giggled, and Rachel stood up. Held up five fingers, and pressed her lips to Kate’s counting down, until the last finger up was the middle finger. She grinned over at Max, who rolled her eyes and shook her head. Chloe had just lit up and taken another drag, when Rachel looked at her.

“Chloe, truth or dare,” she asked with a strange glint in her eye. Before answering, Chloe passed off the joint to Max, who instantly put it to her lips and pulled in a deep drag. She heard Chloe say truth as she took another drag and choked on it as the question came out of Rachel’s mouth.

“What did you think of that kiss with Max and would you do it again” as she finished her sentence she burst into laughter as Max choked on the smoke. She watched as both Max and Chloe turned red, while Chloe shot her a quick glare. She turned to Max.

“Are you alright?” she waited for Max’s nod, as she continued coughing for a moment, then cleared her throat with tears gathered in the corner of her eyes from the strain of choking. Chloe looked back at Rachel embarrassed. “I really liked that kiss with Max… and I definitely would do it again.” Her response caused Kate and Rachel to let out little squeals, while she and Max each blushed more. They looked at each other furtively for a few seconds, then shared a smile. Chloe reached forward and squeezed her hand for a moment before leaning back and continuing the game.

The 4 of them eventually switched back to just laying around telling stories and jokes. By the end of the night, Max was rubbing her feet in the grass in astonishment. “Wowser. The grass feels so different on my feet right now. I think I can feel each individual blade on my feet.”

The other 3 girls giggled at her in amusement, broken up by yawns. It was almost 3 in the morning before they decided to call it a night and go to bed.


	9. Chapter 9

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: Just a couple of things. I know that it is a myth about a greasy breakfast and hair of the dog, but I think I probably would have thought that it was true when I was younger. Also, I’m going to be starting a new story called “The Foster”, so I’ll probably alternate updates once I actually start posting that. (maybe tomorrow or the next night) It would be difficult to post a chapter in each at the same time, as I usually work on a chapter in the few hours I have after work. If you wanted more info about the story, I will put a bit of the synopsis at the end of the chapter.

Max groaned as she rolled away from the light beaming into her face from the window, only to wind up in a yelp as she rolled off the bed and onto the floor. Max felt the world spinning around her as she sat up, groaning. She felt bile climbing up her throat has the room world seemed to spin rapidly around her. _Oh god!_ Max stumbled to her feet and raced across the hall to the bathroom and spent the next few minutes on her knees retching into the toilet.

She heard another pair of feet come running into the bathroom and start retching into the sink next to her. She turned to look to her her right and and saw a pink head of hair lowered over the sink, as the girl under the hair started vomiting violently. Max groaned again before resting her head on her arms.

“I’m never drinking again,” she mumbled, before dry heaving again. She heard a slight giggle from the door and glared up into Rachels glimmering eyes.

“You girls okay,” the beautiful blond asked, “the first hangover can be pretty difficult. The best cure is a bit of the hair of the dog and a greasy breakfast!”

Kate dry heaved next to her and groaned out, “that doesn’t sound like a good idea. I don’t think I could keep anything down. Besides, it’s, like, noon. I think you mean lunch”

Kate stood straight and turned on the sink, cupping her hands under the flow of water and bringing it to her mouth. She swished it around for a few seconds and spit it out. She left the room and returned a few seconds later with a baggie that had her toothpaste and brush in it, and spent the next few minutes brushing her teeth. Max had already stood and grabbed Chloe’s toothbrush. She received a raised brow and a pointed look from Kate as she eyed Chloe’s toothbrush.

“It was already here,” Max explained with a slight blush, “besides, we’ve been friends forever. I couldn’t count how many times we used each other’s as kids.”

“Mmmhmm,” Kate responded with a slight smirk and a shake of her head, before wincing as her temple throbbed briefly from the movement. “I’m sure it had nothing to do with the kiss you two shared last night. You just couldn’t wait to swap spit with her.”

Max turned pink and jammed the toothbrush back into her mouth to avoid a response while Kate just giggled next to her and began brushing her teeth as well. Max found a bottle of tylenol and took two pills before handing the bottle off to Kate. Afterwards the two of them headed back to Chloe’s room to grab their phones. Max noted that Chloe was still sleeping… a slight puddle of drool pooling onto her pillow and arms and legs flung all over. _Aww, she’s so cute._ Max trailed her eyes over Chloe’s form, a slight smile gathering at the corners of her lips. Her eyes paused briefly on Chloe’s short’s that had ridden up. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end and turned her head to see Kate smirking from next to her.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Kate said with a giggle, before flouncing towards the door. “I didn’t mean to distract you from undressing her with your eyes.”

Max sputtered before hurrying after her, elbowing her gently in the side as she caught up with her and grinning. “She does have a pretty nice ass”

Kate let out a loud laugh before wincing as the sound made her head pound again. The two girls made their way down the stairs and saw Rachel in front of the stove dancing to music playing on her phone as she fried up eggs and bacon. She looked up and beamed at them before going back to scrambling the eggs in one of the pans.

“I put out a shot of tequila for each of you. Lick your hand, put salt there. Then lick it the salt off, take the shot, and suck the lime.,” she told them, pointing to the island where two shot glasses sat next to a plate with 2 wedges of a lime. “Also, would one of you start on making us all some toast?”

Max and Kate did as instructed, wincing as the bitter alcohol hit the back of their throats. Max was surprised how quickly that faded after sucking on the lime. Max coughed and cleared her throat before heading grabbing she bread from one of the cupboards and sliding 4 pieces in the toaster. She pulled down 4 plates while the bread cooked and grabbed the butter dish from next to the tv. By the time she finished buttering the last piece of toast, Kate was stood next to her plating up the bacon and eggs. She had taken over for Rachel so that she could go drag Chloe out of bed.

The two friends each grabbed 2 plates and set them at the 4 seats at the table. They went back into the kitchen. Kate grabbed 4 mugs by the handles, while Max grabbed the coffee pot and the creamer out of the fridge. After Kate set each of the mugs down, Max followed behind filling them with 3/4 of the way with coffee… making sure to leave plenty of room for creamer. Rachel arrived back in the room a minute later with Chloe slouching behind her wiping sleep from her eyes and mouth open in a yawn.

“Morning y’all,” she said around her yawn, taking the seat across from Max, staring into her eyes. “Max, it’s the funniest thing. I went to use my toothbrush, and it was already used. You don’t know anything about that, do you? It’s just, I remember how much you hated it when I would use yours.”

“W-what? Uhh,” Max cut off suddenly as heat pooled on her face. “Oh, was that your toothbrush? I must have gotten it mixed up with mine.”

Kate and Rachel burst into guffaws of laughter with their shoulders shaking. Max felt her face turn redder. Chloe looked at her incredulously, before a grin cracked her face.

“Well, I guess that makes sense,” Chloe said sarcastically, “It must be really hard to tell the difference between your bag and my toothbrush holder.”

“Maybe she just couldn’t wait for you to wake up to swap spit again,” Rachel said with an airy giggle causing Kate to laugh out loud again.

“I said the same thing to her earlier,” Kate squealed out between peals of laughter. “great minds think alike!”

Max glared at her in faked annoyance before locking eyes again with Chloe who sent her a sly wink. Max blushed and cleared her throat before lifting her fork to her mouth and stuffing in a forkful of eggs. She pointedly ignored the other girls’ stares and continued to eat her breakfast. After realizing she wasn’t going to comment on it the other 3 girls started to eat theirs. She felt a light tap against her foot from the seat across from hers and glanced up into Chloe’s beautiful eyes. She had a slight frown on her face.

“Sorry if my teasing bothered you. I just kinda thought it was cute,” the taller girl said. “and it’s always fun to tease you. You were always easy to mess with.”

“Its fine,” Max said softly, “I wasn’t upset with you guys for teasing me. Just being my usual awkward self.”

“Well I, for one, like your usual awkward self,” Chloe admitted, gaining a slight blush in her own cheeks and pressing their feet together under the table.

“Hear, hear! Though, I like you differently than she does” Rachel shouted, Kate nodding in agreement before spraying out the coffee she had just started drinking as Rachel continued speaking. “Now we just have to work on getting Kate and Justin together.”

“O-o-oh,” Kate stuttered, “We don’t h-have to do that. I’m sure he wouldn’t want to be with a girl like me!”

The rest of the girls looked at each other in confusion for a moment before looking back to Kate. Rachel reached her hand out and placed it on top of Kate’s, squeezing gently.

“Kate…” She said sadly. “Just what do you think is not to like about yourself? I happen to think you’re awesome, and anyone who dated you would have won the lottery”

“I’m damaged goods,” the petite girl said sadly, not making eye contact with anyone else as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. “Jefferson and Prescott ruined me.”

“That’s bullshit,” Chloe argued across the table. “You are not ruined. They are scum, and they assaulted you, but that’s on them.”

“Kate, look at me please,” Max said beside her, and waited for her to look at her. “Would you ever tell me that I was damaged goods and ruined because of what they did to me?”

“Of course not,” Kate told her insistently. “Max, I would never say that to you. You’re one of my best friends. Just because you’re not a virgin doesn’t mean you’re not still a great per… oh.”

“If you wouldn’t say that to her,” Chloe said gently but fiercely, “why would you say that about yourself? You’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life.”

“I guess that it is kind of a double standard,” Kate said as tear drops slowly slid down her cheeks. “Just, the way mom made me feel yesterday really sucked.”

“Yeah, your mom’s pretty bitchy,” Rachel agreed with a roughness in her voice that wasn’t normally there, “no offense.”

“None taken,” Kate snorted out. “I’ve realized for years how she was. I just kind of buried it inside. Just like I did with the comments at school. Well, until yesterday that is. Thanks girls. You made me feel a lot better”

The other girls giggled, remembering the story that they had been told about Victoria the night previously. They finished their food quickly after that and took their plates into the kitchen to put in the sink. Chloe headed back into the garage to restart the dryer while the other three girls headed over to the living room to watch some TV. Chloe headed back in a minute later and squeezed in next to Max, who turned to look at her with a shy smile.

“Chloe,” the girl with the purple faux hawk said in fake surprise. “Fancy meeting you here. You come here often?”

“Not as often as I’d like,” Chloe responded with a flirty wink. Waiting for Max to blush as the double entendre registered in her mind. Rachel rolled her eyes and shared an amused look with Kate as Chloe opened her mouth to continue “Wanna help me with that sometime?”

“Chloe,” Max shouted out, covering her blushing face with her hands. Rachel and Kate were roaring with laughter as she lowered her hands and glared at them momentarily. Max took a couple of deep breaths to calm her rushing heart at the images that rushed through her head at Chloe’s comment. She looked over to Chloe. She winked back at her. “Maybe… if you play your cards right. How about we start with a date? Maybe we can go out tomorrow night?”

Chloe’s jaw dropped open in shock, as her brain short circuited. She looked at Max, then at Rachel and Kate who were looking at them smirking. Her eyes flew back over to Max, vision going in to stare at her mouth as it moved. Chloe could hear her heartbeat in her ears, so it took a moment to realize that Max had just said something else.

“Wait, did you just ask me out on a date,” the blue haired girl asked in astonishment, staring at her in awe.

“Well, yeah,” Max said embarrassed, looking into her eyes before looking down with a blush.

“I’d love to,” Chloe said, then reached forward and linked their fingers together. Max looked up at her, and the two shared a smile before looking back at the TV. The two of them kept gently squeezing each other’s hands and the four friends watched an episode of Leverage that Max had found when flipping through the channels. _Oooh, I loved this show when I watched it in the hospital._

Max heard the dryer go off a few minutes before the episode ended and looked at the other girls.

“I think I’m gonna take a shower after this episode,” the freckled girl told the others, “Maybe try on a couple of my new outfits and see what I want to wear.”

The other’s nodded and finished the episode. As the credits rolled, Max looked at Chloe. She pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and headed into the garage to dig something to wear out of the dryer. She felt her insides melt when she walked back through the living room and saw Chloe had her hand pressed against the cheek where she had pressed the kiss. _Dreamy sigh. She’s so cuuuuute._

After her shower she headed back into Chloe’s room with her towel wrapped around her and a shower cap she had found in one of the drawers over her hair. She walked into the room and saw Kate digging laying out one of her own new outfits.

“I thought a shower sounded like a great idea,” The girl told her as she pulled a clean pair of underwear out of her bag. “Can I use that shower cap so my hair doesn’t get wet?”

“Sure,” Max said as she ripped it off her head and threw it to Kate, who quickly left the room to take her own shower. Max worked on drying herself off and slipped into her clean panties and pulled her bra back on. She put on a pair of black leggings and stepped into a short, black and purple plaid skirt. She tugged a black tank top over her head and tucked it into the skirt. Over that she pulled a cropped black leather jacket on and left the room. She bumped into Kate on her way back to the bathroom to check her hair. She combed her hair back into the right style and headed downstairs.

Chloe and Rachel were outside on the swings smoking when Max came back downstairs. She saw them as she entered the living room and weighed in her mind if she wanted to go back upstairs to get the pair of shitkickers she had picked up, or just go out barefoot. Her laziness won out, so she headed out to meet them. She was directly in front of them before they noticed her. Chloe’s jaw dropped, and she stared at her dumbly. Rachel looked at her in awe.

“Max,” Rachel shouted out, “You look so punk rock! Can I do your makeup?”

Max nodded, but continued to look at Chloe, waiting for her to say something. Max raised her eyebrow at her in askance.

“You look grot…some,” Chloe suddenly burst out, words running together. She instantly mentally facepalmed, waiting for the other two catch on to what she said. Rachel started cracking up, bending over to lean on her knees while she laughed. Max looked at her in confusion.

“I look grotsome,” Max questioned while Chloe got pink cheeked and looked mortified. “I don’t think I know what that means.”

“I uh,” Chloe paused for a moment as she gathered her wits, “I was going to say you looked hot, but instead I started saying great, but it mixed together. I think I was also thinking you looked awesome, so I guess that’s where the some came from.”

“Well, that’s just grotsome,” Max teased. Rachel hid a snicker by taking a drag off of her cigarette. Max reached out and took Chloe’s cigarette from her and took a drag. As she blew out her smoke she smiled. “Look, I did it without coughing!”

Chloe laughed at her in amusement and took it back from her. Max leaned against the bar on the swing set and looked down at Chloe. _She’s so beautiful. I can’t believe I’m gonna go on date with her! My first date ever is with CHLOE!_ The three friends stayed outside smoking and laughing until Kate joined them a little bit later. Chloe, Rachel and Max looked at her in surprise. _Wow. Who thought little Kate Marsh could look so hardcore!_ She had on a pair of skintight black leather pants, and a black tunic shirt with skulls all over it. She had a black bomber jacket over her arms to keep her warm, and was wearing a pair of shin high combat boots.

“Daaaaaaamnnnnn,” Rachel let out slowly. “where did you learn to dress like that?”

“You literally picked this outfit out for me,” Kate said, covering a giggle with her hand. “I guess you all think it looks good?”

“You look great,” Max exclaimed before giving Chloe a smirk, “Grotsome, even.”

“You. Are. EVIL,” Chloe ground out, smiling at the end to show she was kidding. The two of them shared a flirty glance before turning to look back at Kate, who looked confused.

“What is grotsome,” Kate asked slowly.

“Great. Hot. Awesome!” Rachel told her laughing and told her about Chloe’s awkwardness. Kate started giggling and rolled her eyes. “so, Chloe and I were talking while you two were otherwise occupied-“

“uh, you just made it sound like we were making sex” Kate told her with a giggle. The others froze before chuckling. While Rachel muttered about making sex and Kate being adorable.

“Right. Anyway, while the two of you were busy NOT, “Rachel cleared her throat in amusement, “making sex, Chloe and I were talking about your idea about going to a casino. What do you think? Should we go?”

“Sure,” Max said after a moment’s pause to think it over. “it would be nice to have a win a good amount of money. We could go shopping again! Plus, I’ve been wanting to get another piercing and maybe a couple of tattoos.”

“That sounds awesome,” Chloe said excitedly. “What kind of tattoo do you want?”

“I want to get a blue butterfly on my right wrist,” Max told her, slowly lifting her right hand in a wave. “ I want to get a daith piercing and maybe my lip.”

“I wanna get a piercing,” Kate said, jumping up and down slightly. “That would be so fun. We can all go together!”

An hour and a half later the four girls walked out the front door. Pausing in shock as they saw that Chloe’s truck was gone.

“What the hell,” Chloe yelled out in shock.

“Dude! Where’s your car,” Rachel joked in a sarcastic voice. Chloe gave her a look that just screamed that this was serious. Already pulling out her phone to call her mom. Max was looking at Chloe in worry, sure that her friend was internally panicking. She listened to Chloe’s side of the conversation.

“Mom, someone stole my car,” Chloe yelled out, as her mom answered the phone at the Two Whales. “Was it here when you left this morning?”

“Wait, what?”

“What do you mean a note was left? I didn’t see any note.” Chloe walked back into the front door and saw the sticky note sticking to the door. She blushed as the other thee girls watched her go in. “oh. Uh sorry for bothering you!”

“So, I guess David took mom to work in my truck,” Chloe told them, “He left his car keys so that if we went anywhere we would have enough seatbelts for all of us. I guess he was worried when he found out we all rode in my truck yesterday”

“Oh,” Max said in surprise. “That was nice of him, I guess. Will his car make it the 60 mile drive to the casino?”

“Yeah. Honestly, it’ll probably do better than the truck would have,” Chloe told her, heading into the house to grab David’s car keys. The four of them trouped into the garage moment’s later. Kate and Rachel took the back seat so Max could sit up front with Chloe. They held hands as they waited for the garage door to finish rising and slowly backed out of the driveway, closing the garage door with the push of a button while they made their way down the street.

A 60 mile drive later and they were pulling into a parking spot at the casino, which was actually on a large boat. They were stopped at the door to show their ID’s. They were cleared to enter and went up the bridge connecting the boat to the dock. They were distracted as they entered by all the flashing lights and slowly made their way around the casino. They each took seats at a slot machine and slid in $20 each. After a while the only one who still had anything left in the machine was Kate. Max had decided not to use her powers until they played roulette. Kate eventually cashed out, having been up $100. The girls meandered their way over to the roulette table and watched for a few minutes before Max decided she was ready to use her powers. She waited until the ball finished spinning. Watching to see where it landed before rewinding. She wanted to make sure that it would be the same each time and rewound a few different times. When she was sure it was going to land on the same number she approached the table. Max reached into her bag and pulled out $500 dollars from the remaining $650 she had in there. She handed it over to the dealer and traded it in for roulette chips. She slowly set down all the chips on 18.

They watched as moments later the ball landed on 18. The four of them jumped up and down, as the win registered with them. The dealer at the table was congratulating them as he counted out the correct number of chips and slid them over to her she grabbed the winnings and put half them on black, waiting for them to spin the wheel again. She watched as it landed on red and quickly rewound until the chips were back in front of her. She slid half of them in faked nervousness to Red, smiling a few moment’s later as she doubled her money. She allowed herself a couple of losses so that things didn’t look too suspicious but left 45 minutes later up almost $150000. They stopped on the way out of the casino to cash out and were given a check. They all discussed the fun things they could do as they made their way back to Chloe’s house. They were making plans to go to a bank the next day for Max to deposit the check.

When they walked into the house later that evening, it was to Joyce standing in the kitchen cooking while her and David chatted. Max showed them the check from the casino, and Joyce was in complete shock. She spent ten minutes sputtering at the amount of money while stirring the homemade spaghetti she was cooking. Later as they were eating spaghetti with garlic bread they shared the story in more… fake… detail with the couple. As the dinner continued, Rachel turned to talk to Kate.

“Hey, do you want to come hang out with Frank, Pompidou and I tomorrow night while Chloe and Max are on their date?”

“What? Date,” Joyce questioned looking at the two girls, a surprised smile growing on her face “Are you two going on a date?”

“Yup,” Chloe said, after sharing a dopey smile with Max. Joyce squealed loudly, standing up to hug them both.

“Goodness gracious! I’m so excited,” she exclaimed. “You two will make such a cute couple!”

“Mom,” Chloe whined in embarrassment as Joyce stood from hugging Max. “It’s our first date. We’re not eloping tomorrow.”

“What are you two do-“ David started to ask before Joyce cut them off.

“Of course, you’re not eloping,” she said loudly. “The day my baby gets married I want to be there. Front and center… Well, okay. You two would be front and center, but you know what I mean.”

“Mom,” Chloe said before looking at Max in horror. They were both bright red. “You’re embarrassing us.”

“Honey, I’ve always thought you would end up together,” Joyce told her smiling at her. “You were always watching each other, and you were always protecting her. I still remember the day you me-”

“Mom, stop,” Chloe said interrupting her rambling. “Let us have our first date and see how it goes.”

“Fine, fine,” Joyce said waving her hands as if to brush of the conversation. The rest of dinner passed in less embarrassing conversation for everyone. After dinner they girls all went up to Chloe’s room to hang out. That night, Max and Chloe fell asleep snuggling together, with Chloe as the big spoon. Max felt so safe with Chloe’s arms around her that she fell into sleep easily.

Synopsis for “The Foster”

Chloe’s life changed forever when her parent’s unexpectedly die in a car accident when she was 11 years old. Thankfully at the time of the crash, she was still at her best friend, Rachel Amber’s, house. As if that day wasn’t bad enough, 3 days after her parent’s double funeral, her best friend Rachel moved away. Chloe is thrust into a world she didn’t ever really know anything about. She feels truly alone as she enters into foster care. This story will follow Chloe through a few different foster families. It also will have some dark themes. (child abuse, child molestation, rape, withholding food, murder attempt, anxiety, fear of males, alcoholism in secondary characters,) This story will be another Pricefield. (my fave ship) This also will have a supernatural element as life is strange always does, but I don’t want to spoil what that will be yet.


	10. Chapter 10

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: This is just a short little chapter. I was busier today and didn’t have a whole lot of time to write. It’s only half as long as my usual chapters. I’ll try to post a longer one next time! I did post the first chapter of my other story last night, called The Foster if anyone is interested. That will probably be the next one I try to update, since I do still plan on alternating chapters in the stories.

The next day passed by quickly for Chloe, Max and Kate. Rachel had gone back to classes and had been snapchatting them all morning from the school. That morning when Max had asked Chloe what she wanted to do for the date, Chloe just gave her a sly wink and let her know that she had everything planned. After a quick lunch of grilled cheese, the three of them made their way to the bank so Max could deposit the check from the bank.

They decided to go to the junkyard after that to waste some time until Rachel got out of school. Max had instantly pulled out her camera to start taking shots. She got Chloe to get into the boat so she could take a picture of Captain Bluebeard in her natural habitat. Her gaze was already searching for the next shot before the first shot had even developed. She took a picture of Kate posing with the broken-down washer. She had posed her artfully to try and show the contrast of a woman’s role in the past, as opposed to women in the present. A lot of the pictures were just of things around the junkyard. Neither Chloe nor Kate really enjoyed posing for pictures.

Around 2:30 Rachel was able to join them and was delighted to be Max’s model. She was really proud of one she took where the other girl laid down on the hood of a car, and let her neck drape backwards over the grill, her blond mane flowing down in a river of beautiful pale yellow. She had one of her hands reaching towards the camera with a serene look upon her face.

As the girls headed back to Chloe’s house, Rachel asked Max if she would let her do her makeup for the date, receiving a quick nod in answer. Rachel pulled her from the truck as soon as Chloe put the car in park so she could get started right away. The two girls chatted and giggled while Rachel worked on her makeup after dragging Max into Chloe’s bedroom and sitting her down on the bed. She even played with her hair a little bit, sweeping the front of the faux hawk off to the right. When she was finished Max looked in the mirror and gave herself an astonished look.

“woooow,” she whispered staring at herself in wonder. “I’ve never seen myself look like this.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Rachel told her with a caring smile. “You’re easy to work with since you already are beautiful before make up. Now if you were deformed or something, that would be a different story. Now, what are you gonna wear?”

“I thought I would just wear this,” Max said, pointing at what she was already wearing which was a pair of jean leggings with a bunch of cuts in them and a tshirt with a skull on it that glowed in the dark. Rachel looked at her with a raised eyebrow, before rolling her eyes in amusement and walking to Chloe’s closet. She eased the door open and started digging through it searching through the clothes she had left behind for the perfect outfit. She pulled out a pair of leather leggings and a silver, shimmering lowcut top. She thrust them into Max’s arms and gave her a pointed look.

Max laughed in amusement before tearing off the tshirt and sliding on the silver shirt in its place. She kicked the jeans off her legs and bent to work her right foot through the leather leg hole. After she got dressed, she turned to look at Rachel who was giving her an appraising look with her pointer finger resting on her lips and thumb under her chin. She moved towards Max and tucked the front of her shirt in a French tuck. She reached back into the closet and pulled out a black belt with a silver buckle in the shape of a star and slid it around Max’s slim waist. She backed up to look at her again and finally kicked off her own booties and told Max they would complete her outfit.

“You look beautiful,” Rachel told her with a beaming smile. “Chloe is gonna drool over you all night!”

“Won’t I be kind of cold in this shirt,” Max asked her, brushing her fingertips across the silky shirt.

“You’ll have your leather jacket,” Rachel mentioned, “and however many blankets Chloe brings along.”

“Wait, do you know what she and I are doing,” Max asked her with pleading eyes. “Chloe won’t tell me what her idea was.”

“I’ll never tell,” Rachel laughed. “Not only would Chloe be sad I ruined the surprise, she wouldn’t tell me any plans for any future dates. I gotta be in the know, Max!”

Max snorted at her and walked past her to take a look in the large mirror in the bathroom. Rachel stood watching from the bathroom door with a large grin as Max turned around looking at herself from all angles in the mirror. _These pants make my butt look good._ Max shook herself out of her stupor and turned to grin back at the other girl. Max went to walk down the stairs so she and Chloe could head out, pausing in the doorway to give Rachel a hug. The two of them made their way down the stairs, and into the living room. Rachel told Kate that Frank was going to pick them up in a few minutes, having texted him 10 minutes before that she was almost done.

“Max, you look wonderful,” Kate yelled to her, as she ran up and gave her a hug.

“Thanks," Max responded enthusiastically with eyes traversing the room until the landed on Chloe. “do you like?”

“Yeah, you look so…” Chloe trailed of nervously, swallowing hard. She felt like she was salivating as she looked at the beautiful girl covered in her adorable freckles.

“Let me guess,” Max said with a giggle, “grotsome?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said with a laugh, nervousness fading as she remembered this was Max. They’ve known each other for years. “Grotsome and stunning. You ready to go?”

Max beamed at her and held out her hand, waiting until she walked up and grabbed it. They held hands until the reached Chloe’s truck. She could see Frank’s RV turning onto the street and rolling up towards Chloe’s house. The four girls waved to each other, as two of them headed off with Frank and the other two headed off for their first date. It was reaching the golden hour as Chloe backed into a spot at the beach with her truck bed facing the ocean. They had only stopped holding hands for Chloe to shift from drive to reverse, then from reverse to park.

“So,” Max said with a questioning tone in her voice. “What are we doing?”

“I thought we would have a bit of a picnic while we watch the sun set, and then lay in the truck and watch the stars,” Chloe told her with a smile. “There are supposed to be meteors tonight”

“That sounds nice,” Max told her before she got out of the car and headed to the back of the truck. She stepped up onto the tire and climbed into the bed, eyes taking in sight of a bunch of blankets Chloe had folded in the back. The same cooler from the bonfire was back there, as well as an insulated bag that had something in it that smelled wonderful. “Mmm, what did you pack for dinner?”

“I made some lemon pepper chicken and mashed potatoes.” Chloe told her with a grin, and opened up the insulated bag and pulled out a couple of paper plates and plasticware

The two were sitting closely together as they ate dinner. Chloe pulled out a bottle of beer for herself and offered Max a drink from a selection of Smirnoff ice. Max grabbed a black cherry one for herself and sipped at it. After dinner they put down one of the thicker blankets, and leaned up against the cabin of the truck, covering themselves with the remaining blankets as it got chilly outside. The two of them were snuggling together as they watched the sun go below the horizon.

“so, what was the other timeline like,” Chloe asked her as she put an arm over her shoulder and pulled her into her side. “if you don’t mind talking about it. What was our reunion like?”

“Well, it was different,” Max told her before turning her head to look into her eyes. “Like I said, you were blackmailing Nathan Prescott for money to pay of $3000 you owed Frank. I didn’t even recognize you, but I thought you looked like a blue haired angel.”

Chloe smiled at her, urging her gently to continue. She reached her left arm across her torso to grab one of Max’s hands. Max turned her head to look back towards the ocean, leaning her head gently against Chloe’s shoulder.

“Our actual reunion happened later that day,” Max told her, “You saved me from Nathan by driving up while he was attacking Warren and Me. You were pretty pissed at me, and bit my head off a bit for not contacting you for 5 years. Totally deserved, by the way. One of the coolest things you and I did was sneak into the Blackwell pool. We had to run from security and spent the night hiding out in your room. The next morning you dared me to kiss you. I did, and I had never seen you so surprised.”

The two of them laughed together at that, before Chloe pulled out a joint and gave her a shit eating grin.

“Do you mind if I light up,” Chloe asked her quietly.

“As long as you share,” Max responded with a laugh. Max grabbed the lit joint from Chloe and took a hit from it before continuing her story. “The hardest thing I have had to do was agree to let you die. When you kissed me at the lighthouse, I really didn’t want to go back.”

“We kissed another time,” Chloe asked her and gave her a meaningful look.

“Yeah, it was full of passion,” Max told her returning her look. “It just felt like destiny that we were meant to be together. To go back and make it never happen killed me inside.”

“We’re here together, now,” Chloe told her squeezing at her hand and passing the joint back to her. “Max look, it’s a meteor.”

Max’s head whipped towards the sky as she blew out a puff of smoke, watching the rock trail it’s way across the night sky. The two of them sat snuggling as more meteors started to appear, passing the drug between them. They continued telling each other stories and giggled while reminiscing over their childhood.

“Remember that time I pranked you by asking if you wanted a cookie and giving you a dog treat,” Chloe asked her as she burst into giggles. Chloe looked at her and stared into her eyes with tears of laughter leaking from the corners of her eyes.

“Yeah, that was sooo gross, Chloe,” Max told her with faked anger, and turned her head to stare into her eyes. Max could tell she was high as she rubbed her hands up and down the comforter the two of them were using for warmth. _How is it her eyes seem even bluer than before?_ Chloe’s hand moved to cup Max’s cheek, as their faces inched closer together. Max’s eyes slid shut as Chloe’s lips closed over her own. Max responded by pressing her lips to Chloe’s and moved a hand to clutch at the blue haired girls jacket. Max pulled away to stare into Chloe’s eyes again.

The two of them laid completely down in the truck bed before Chloe turned onto her side to face her and leaned back over her to kiss her again. Max could feel Chloe’s lips pressing against hers, while her hand moved down to settle on her hip. Max felt something wet go across the seam of her lips, and opened her mouth in a slight gasp. She felt Chloe slip her tongue in between her parted lips and gave a slight moan as their tongues touched for the first time. Chloe slid her tongue along Max’s for a bit before starting to map out the taste of her mouth. It felt like they were kissing for hours.

The two of them spent the next couple of hours snuggling, kissing, and watching the sky. They would take turns pointing out different constellations. They decided to head home when they started getting chilly, even with the blankets covering them. Max had texted Kate and Rachel to let them know they were heading back to the house. The couple arrived back to the house, and the girls made her way up the stairs and changed into pajamas. Kate texted them when she got there, and they went down to let her in.

The three girls stayed up late into the night, telling Kate about their date, and watching movies together until 12:30. The 3 of them headed up the stairs to go to bed, Chloe and Max getting into the bed, and snuggling together, while Kate laid down to sleep in the pallet of blankets that had been piled up the nights previously.


	11. Chapter 11

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: Bullying, underage drinking, drug use

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly for the new couple and their friends. They spent a lot of time with Kate, Rachel joining them after she got out of classes. On Wednesday the group of friends went to a tattoo parlor. Max got the daith and lip piercings she had been considering, while Kate got her earlobes double pierced. Max also set a time to come back later that day so she could get a tattoo of the blue butterfly on her wrist, after a brief inspiration she had asked the artist to have it landing on a pocket watch done in blacks and grays. When they went back later, Chloe clutched her left hand the hold time to help calm her. In the end she loved the result of it, and even though it had been painful, she was already wanting another one. Seeing the finished product had caused all of the other girls to long for another one, or in Kate’s case, one at all.

Thursday after Rachel got out of school, the four girls went to an arcade that had recently set up in the town. The lights inside automatically reminded Max of when they first walked into the casino earlier that week. They all crammed into a photobooth that was near the entrance, making silly poses and laughing. They found out that somehow Rachel was a pro at skee ball, as she seemed to get the ball directly in the 100 points 75% of the time. They spotted a motorcycle racing game where you actually had to lean to the right and left to help the motorcycle handle the curves. Kate and Rachel wound up competing in a dancing game, while Chloe and Max walked over to some claw machines and Max started trying to win some Final Fantasy 7 figurines, while Chloe hugged her from behind giving her pointers. Max started bouncing and squealing after getting the figurine after 5 tries. Chloe was gigging at her cuteness, until Max craned her head around to press their lips together. That set off a group of tween boys who started wolf whistling at the two of them. The friends left after another couple of hours, after stopping in the gift shop and trading in their tickets

Thursday night Max and Chloe went on another date. There was a carnival a few towns over, so the two of them decided to check it out. The two of them smoked some pot in Chloe’s truck before heading towards the rides. Max could already smell all of the fair food and felt her mouth salivating. She couldn’t wait to get a corndog and made Chloe stop there first. They scoped out the rides while they ate their delicious grub. They stopped in line to buy some tickets for the rides, and waited in line with Chloe’s arms draped around her shoulders. As they reached the front of the line, they saw that for $20 dollars each, they could get a wristband to ride the rides as many times as they wanted. The woman at the kiosk wrapped the paper bracelets around the girl’s wrists.

The two of them first got on the giant boat that would swing back and forth, every time it went down, Max could feel a tickle in her stomach and giggled. Chloe would giggle every time she would, as Max’s soft giggle caused her to feel a rush of affection for her. After that, the two of them went on the Ferris wheel, and spent the whole time snuggling together and stealing kisses. While they were up there, they were shocked by fireworks starting.

“I didn’t know there were supposed to be fireworks. Sweet,” Chloe mentioned excitedly, as she snuggled her into her side, running her hand up and down her arm.

“They’re beautiful,” Max agreed, watching as the colorful flames popped in the sky. Max could see out of the corner of her eyes that Chloe was watching her, as the sky lit up in a variety of colors.

“Not as beautiful as you are. You look even more beautiful in the glow of the fireworks,” Chloe stated sincerely, eyes lowered slightly in desire. Max turned her head to look into her eyes, and the two leaned in to kiss, as the fireworks continued to boom around them. They were unaware of anything else besides the two of them. They didn’t even realize they had come to a stop until they heard a cough and a throat clearing next to them. The two of the jumped apart and looked to the sign, where the carney was leering at them with a huge grin on his face.

“Hey, how ‘bout you two hotties join me later for some fun,” he said in a husky tone as he continued to grin at them lasciviously.

“Um, how about no,” Max said, and grabbed Chloe’s hand to pull her away before she attacked the guy. The woman had had a glare on her face as she shouldered up as if to fight with him.That guy looked like a real creeper, and she didn’t want to let anything happen to her blue haired beauty. Plus, she didn’t want to get kicked out of the carnival for fighting. She dragged her off towards the bumper cars, Chloe whining behind her about not letting her teach that guy a lesson.

It had quickly been forgotten as the two of them looped the straps of the bumper cars around their waists. The two of them faced kept bumping into each other and giggling. It was almost like they were flirting by using the cars. They were only aiming for each other. They shared another kiss as they stood up to leave the ride. As they were heading towards the next ride, Max got a whiff of something fried and sweet smelling. Looking around she saw a place advertising funnel cakes. She dragged Chloe over and stood in line, bouncing in place as she waited for her turn. They sat down at a picnic table after getting their treat and snuggled together while feeding each other bits of the powdered sugar dusted treat. The rest of the night went by quickly. They were having a great time together, and even played a few of the carnival games. Chloe won her a giant teddy bear that the had to haul to the truck. They stopped on the way back to the truck to pick up some cotton candy to share with Kate and Rachel.

The next day Rachel had gotten a text from Dana inviting her to a house party someone was throwing while their parents were out of town. After confirming with Dana that it would be okay to bring Chloe, Max and Kate the girls got ready for the party. They stopped by Frank’s again on the way to the party, as Rachel had asked for him to pick up some alcohol for them. Chloe bought a bunch of weed while they were there, too. Chloe pulled to a stop in front of the house and they made their way into the house. Dana squealed loudly as she saw Max walk in the front door.

“Max,” She yelled out, as she came running up to her and gave her a hug. “It’s good to see you out of the hospital! You look so cool! You changed your hair, and I love your lip piercing! Does it hurt mu- KATE?”

Kate smiled at her and gave her a hug, as well. “Hi Dana, thank you so much for looking after Alice this week.”

“Of course, she’s a little angel,” The cheerleaeder responded to her, as Trevor came up next to her and threw an arm over her shoulder. “Kate, you changed your style, too! You both look awesome!”

“Hi Dana,” Rachel shouted out over the music, and lifted the box full of booze, “Where can I put this?”

“Oh,” Dana said in surprise at the amount of alcohol they had brought, “We have it all set on the kitchen table.”

The group headed off to the kitchen, being led there by Dana. They each mixed themselves up a drink, and headed to the basement, where Dana told them most of the ‘cool people’ were hanging out. They got to the bottom of the stairs, and saw Justin and his friends, as well as Juliet sitting around in a circle laughing and talking. The rest of them joined them, with cheers of hellos.

“Chloe… Rachel, what it is,” Justin asked as the group sat down together. “Who are your friends?”

“Uhhh, Justin,” Max said with a laugh. “We go to school with you. That’s Kate, I’m Max?”

“I must be more drunk than I thought,” the teen boy said slowly. “I didn’t even recognize you. I heard you beat the shit out of Victoria, Kate. Good job!”

“Thanks,” Kate muttered blushing, while hiding a smile behind her cup. The other people sitting in the group cheered for her. “I just snapped. She was saying all these awful things.”

“Yeah, she is such a fucking bitch,” Juliet agreed, taking a long gulp from her drink. “I walked in on her with my boyfriend, Zach. Well, ex-boyfriend.”

“Sounds like we could all relax,” Chloe said, as she pulled out the bag of weed she bought from Frank. “Anyone in?”

Everyone cheered as Chloe pulled out a bowl, and started packing it with the drug. Chloe lit it up, and took a long drag, holding her breath before passing it off to Max. The group sat there in a circle passing it all around. Their volume was rising as they started having more fun. Dana ran up the stairs to grab a couple bottles of alcohol after someone mentioned playing a drinking game. She returned back fairly quickly and handed out some shot glasses to the group. She also dropped down a pack of cards.

“I figured we’ll start with Never have I ever, and maybe play some kings cup afterwards,” Dana said, as she sat back down, choosing to sit in Trevor’s lap. “I’ll start. Never have I ever… kissed a girl.”

Max and Chloe clinked their shots together before shooting them back, watching as the other people in the circle either drank or didn’t. Max looked to her right and saw Kate bringing her shot glass down from her mouth. She could see other people looking at Kate in surprise, and the pink haired girl giggled.

“It was on a dare, but a kiss is a kiss,” Kate reasoned out with them with a tipsy giggle. They passed the bottle of vodka back around, and everyone who had taken a shot refilled their glass.

“Never have I ever walked in my parents having sex,” Juliet said, laughing as Dana glared at her before lifting her shot to her mouth.

“Thanks for that reminder,” the cheerleader said as she gagged. She had been the only one that had to drink to that one.

“Never have I ever had a period,” Trevor yelled out, laughing as all the girls groaned simultaneously and took drinks.

“That was low, Trevor, but paybacks a bitch” Kate told him with a laugh, as she refilled her drink. “Never have I ever had a boner! ”

The girls all started giggling as the guys all took their shots. The game continued on for a while before they switched to playing kings cup. By the time that game had ended they were all thoroughly drunk. They ended up getting up and dancing around to the music that was playing in the house. Max and Chloe were standing there passing a bottle of fireball between them. They were pressed closely together, as they moved their bodies from side to side.

Kate and Rachel were dancing together next to them, giggling drunkenly. Rachel was trying to talk Kate into asking Justin to dance. Kate blushed, and shook her head at the blond. They eventually started doing the titanic Jack and Rose spin. Chloe could see the scheming look on Rachel’s face. She opened her mouth to ask what she was planning, when Rachel let go of Kate’s hands, sending her careening back into Justin who fell onto the couch with Kate on his lap. Kate turned bright pink and looked to Justin in horror. Rachel immediately started giggling, as Kate tried to struggle to her feet.

“I’m so sorry, Justin,” Kate told him with her face still pink.

“Hey, its okay,” He told her with a smile. “It’s not every day a beautiful girl falls into my lap.”

Kate blushed as she finally made it to her feet. She stumbled slightly as she made her way to her feet and decided to sit back on the couch. The two of them sat there and started talking. Rachel shared a conspiratorial wink with Max and Chloe before wandering off to hang out with Dana and Trevor. The rest of the night went by in a blur of shots, dancing, and laughter. They all decided to stay the night in the basement, as none of them were willing to drink and drive. Chloe and Max were snuggled up together on one of the couches, Max’s back pressed against Chloe’s front. They had a couple of the decorative pillows they were using to rest their heads upon, and a throw blanket thrown over them to keep them warm.

Max woke up the next morning, much like the first time she had been drunk. She sat up slowly as her temples pounded, feeling the bile rise in her throat. The room was spinning around her she put her head into her hands and groaned, trying to keep control and stop herself from vomiting. She felt Chloe sit up behind her and rub her back.

“You okay, babe,” She asked her lowly as she continued to sooth her by rubbing her back. The purple haired girl opened her mouth to respond, but immediately closed it and rushed off toward the bathroom, bursting in and emptying her stomach contents into the toilet. Chloe walked up behind her and started trying to sooth her again. Max heard the girl start opening drawers and cabinets, then heard the sink turn on. She felt the a wet washcloth settle on the back of her neck.

“I’m never drinking again,” Max said before she started heaving again.

“Isn’t that what you said last time,” Chloe asked her teasingly. After Max stopped heaving again she continued on. “I found some Excedrin in the cupboard. Do you think you’d be able to keep it down?”

Max nodded as she slowly made her way to her feet, making her way slowly to the sink. She tipped out 2 pills while Chloe came back with a plastic cup and filled it with water. She grabbed some of the medication for herself, too. Max hugged Chloe in thanks for her help that morning. The two of them slowly made their way back to the couch and laid down together.

“How do you never wind up vomiting,” Max whined at her quietly. “You drank just as much as me.”

“I’m more used to it than you,” She responded, placing a soft kiss at the center of her forehead, “Plus, I probably have a higher tolerance than you.”

The two of them continued to cuddle together, eventually falling back into a restless sleep. They were woken an hour later, by Dana lightly shaking them and informing them she had made pancakes if they wanted to come up to eat. They made their way up to the kitchen, surveying the damage from the party. Kate was sitting at the table, holding her head up with her hands, face looking a bit green around the gills. Justin was sitting in the seat next to her looking a bit worse for wear himself, as he slowly brought a bite of pancake up to his mouth.

Max and Chloe sat down across from them, grabbing some of the pancakes from the serving plate and plopping them on their own plates, covering them with butter and syrup. The friends sat there eating their pancakes and making small talk. After eating, the people who weren’t too terribly hung over started to help clean up the house. They left the house after helping with the cleanup and headed towards Chloe’s place. They walked in and saw that Joyce and David were cuddling on the couch, Joyce reading what looked like a romance novel, while David watched some war documentary on the history channel.

They took the stairs to Chloe’s room, and turned on the tv to relax for a little while. Rachel was sat at Chloe’s desk, playing some sort of game on her computer. Kate had laid down on Chloe’s bed, and instantly fallen asleep. Chloe sat next to her against the wall, and Max sat between the v of her knees with Chloe’s arms wrapped around her. Max pulled out her camera, and the two posed for a selfie while kissing softly. The rest of their weekend after that passed by calmly. Rachel had left early in the afternoon on Saturday to spend the night with Frank.

Before Max and Kate knew it, it was time to return to school. Max felt a pit of dread growing in her stomach as she made her way into the dorm rooms, Kate following closely behind her. She and Kate went separate ways at Kate’s door. As she got closer to her door, she saw that there was writing all over it. Everyone was wishing her well and wrote that they hoped she recovered quickly. She walked in to her room and unpacked her bag full of her new clothes and got ready for the school day. She thankfully didn’t have to shower, since both her and Kate had done so at Chloe’s. She heard a knock at her door and walked over to crack it open, surprised to see Taylor and Courtney standing on the other side awkwardly.

“Er, hi Max,” Taylor told her shifting from side to side. “I wanted to apologize for the way I was with you at the beginning of the year. I was following other people’s opinions instead of making my own.”

“Yeah,” Courtney said with a sad look on her face. “We realized when we saw Victoria making fun of Kate after her ordeal just how awful we had been. We feel terrible.”

“It’s okay,” Max said quietly, “I forgive you. It’s not often that people actually apologize for things they regret.”

“Thank you,” Taylor responded with a light smile, “I shouldn’t have been a follower. I’m not about cutting people down to make myself feel better. We already apologized to Kate, but we felt we owed you one, too.”

“I love your new style,” Courtney told her, eying her up and down. “it really suits you. It’s crazy that you and Kate came back after a week looking completely different.”

“Thanks,” Max said, smiling as Rachel walked up to join them, Kate trailing behind who shared a brief wave with the other two girls.

“Heya lady,” Rachel said as she walked up and pulled her into a brief hug. “You ready to head to class?”

Max nodded, and they headed for the exit, Dana joining up with them along the way. She explained how the photography class was self-study that was being monitored by Principal Wells until he found a replacement professor. Courtney separated from the rest of the group, heading upstairs for English while the rest of them walked into the photography classroom. Max and Kate joined the table Rachel had always sat at, surprised when they looked up and saw Taylor standing there awkwardly.

“Do you ladies mind if I join you today? I’m not speaking terms right now with Victoria,” Taylor explained, before getting nods from the other three. “I won’t speak to her until she pulls her head out of her ass and realizes what a complete bitch she’s being about the whole… er, situation.”

Max glanced towards the back of the room and saw that Victoria was seated all alone. _I guess that’s what happen when you treat everyone like they’re lower than dirt._ _Hopefully this will teach her that it’s not okay to be horrible to everyone. Maybe she’ll grow as a person._ By the time Max had finished unpacking her bag, Well’s was standing behind the desk at the front of the room.

“Good afternoon, Class,” he said as he grabbed a stool from the door behind the desk and sat down. “By now, you know the drill. I’ve started interviewing for the position, so hopefully we’ll find someone soon.”

They all pulled out their books, but they mostly just sat there chitchatting as the class period went on around them. As they walked out of class an hour later, Max was complaining about the uselessness of even going to the class. Taylor had gone up the stairs to meet up with Courtney, while Max, Kate, and Rachel headed out to the courtyard. Max felt her stomach drop, as a voice spoke up behind them.

“Well, well, well,” Victoria’s voice snarled from behind them, “The skank hoe’s of Blackwell have returned.”

“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” Rachel growled at her as she advanced upon the girl.

“Was I talking to you,” Victoria sneered, before turning her venomous gaze to Kate and Max. “I can’t believe you came back. First you sent two great people away to jail based on lies, then you caused all my friends to stop talking to me.”

“You only have yourself to blame for that, Victoria,” Max said as she glared at the taller girl. “and those ‘two great people’ that you’re so fond of bringing up took turns raping me and beat me up so bad I had to be taken to the hospital.”

“You’re lying,” Victoria shouted at her, “They wouldn’t do that to anyone. I’ve known Nathan my whole life. He’s like a brother to me.”

“Yeah,” Kate asked her with challenge roughening up her voice. “Well, if your ‘brother’ didn’t rape me, how come the cops found pictures of him doing so in his hidden bunker?”

“Interesting fact,” Max added, “the cops didn’t realize I heard them talking. They found some empty folders there that were being readied for their future victims. Might interest you to know that ‘your brother’ and his mentor had an empty file with your name on it. They planned to drug and rape you, too.”

Max watched as Victoria paled before turning her back and walking away from her. Kate’s hands were shaking as she stopped herself from turning around and jumping the blond again. How dare that bitch bring up her rape again. How dare she claim yet again that her and Max were lying. The three of them sat under a tree to talk.

“I don’t think I can keep putting up with her,” Kate said as tears of anger gathered in her eyes. “I’m kinda worried she’ll do something while I’m asleep.”

“That thought didn’t even occur to me,” Max said as she remembered that the doors of their dorm rooms didn’t lock. “I doubt she’d try anything. She’s all talk, but it is going to be a nightmare living with her.”

“Too bad we don’t have a place of our own,” Rachel inserted, “She may be too afraid to bully me, but I really hate living in the dorms. Though, I guess it’s better than living at home with my father.”

“That’s a great idea,” Max said, head popping up in excitement. “We have all that money in the bank. We could rent a place until after I graduate, then we could move wherever!”

“Seriously,” Rachel asked as she stared at Max with wide eyes. Kate’s mouth was opened in surprise as Max pulled out her phone and pulled up her craigslist and started looking at the available rental properties.

“Absolutely,” Max told her, “Me, you two and Chloe! It’ll be awesome, living with my besties instead of across the hall from Bitchtoria, the wicked witch of the west.”

The three friends huddled together over Max’s phone, looking at the different options available. They had a few different options they were interested in. Max contacted each of them asking for more information. Max closed out of the app as the bell for free period rang. Max groaned as she stood up, and headed for the building, heading up the stairs for her math class. When she took her seat, she pulled out her phone, and sent a quick update of her plans to Chloe. Max put her phone back in her bag as class started. The class seemed to drag on, as Max struggled to understand the subject matter. She missed a large portion of the class, both from her week off, and her time jump. It didn’t help that before she traveled back, she had been in zombie mode, skipping classes, and spacing out when she actually did go.

Max practically ran out of class as the bell rung. Immediately pulling her phone from the bag and checking the messages. She had a bunch of texts from Chloe, exclaiming her excitement over the idea of all of them living together. She was responding to her, as she felt a presence come stand up beside her.

“Max,” Warren enthused, as he saw her. “I’m glad to see you back in school. I was really worried when I heard what happened to you. I wish I could have beat the crap out of Nathan.”

“Hey Warren,” Max responded, “It’s good to see you, too. How have you been?”

“I’m doing okay. You look… different,” he said with a questioning tone in his voice. “How do you feel to be back at school?”

“It’s kinda weird to be back,” Max told him, and looked off to the side. “It doesn’t help that I had to be accosted by Victoria after class earlier. She claims I’m lying about… well, you know.”

“That sucks. I don’t understand some people,” Warren considered. “It sounds like you could use a distraction. Do you maybe wanna go to the drive in with me? They’re playing Back to the Future this weekend.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Warren,” Max replied awkwardly. “I actually have plans over the weekend with my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend,” Warren asked. “I… didn’t realize you were a lesbian.”

“Er, yeah. More or less. I like guys, too, but have always leaned more strongly towards girls,” Max said, trying to let him down gently. She was suddenly hit with inspiration as she remembered a conversation she’d had in the alternate timeline. “You know what, though? I remember Alyssa saying that she really loved Back to the Future, maybe you could ask her?”

“Oh, that’s a pretty good idea,” Warren stated, “she’s really nice. We’ve talked about sci-fi a few times in the past.”

Max was going to reply, but her phone started ringing. She held up a finger to Warren, signaling for him to give her a moment. As she answered the phone, she realized it was one of the people she had sent a message to on craigslist. She was actually a landlord at a few of the locations and was asking her if she wanted to tour any of the locations. Max had responded in the affirmative before calling all of the girls and asking if they wanted to go view the places with her. Once they had all agreed, Max turned back to Warren.

“Sorry to cut this conversation short, but I’ve got to go look at a couple of rental houses,” She explained, getting a hurried goodbye in response before going to meet Kate and Rachel in the courtyard. The 3 of them headed out to the parking lot to wait for Chloe to pull up in her truck. The four of them drove off toward the first of the rentals and greeted the landlady. After seeing the 3 houses, they wound up choosing a large house that had 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The woman had told them that since none of them had anything on their credit report, they would need to have someone cosign their lease. Chloe had contacted her mother, who had agreed to come over and help them out. The woman handed over the keys to the house and congratulated them on their home.

After that, they piled into Chloe’s truck and started heading towards a furniture store. They stopped, though, when Max asked them to pull into a used car lot. Explaining to the four girls that they should have more than one vehicle at their place. That way Chloe wouldn’t always have to get up to drive them to and from school. Max ended up picking out a 2009 Toyota Rav 4. After she called to set up insurance, and the dealership put plates on the SUV they finally ended up at a furniture store. They started by picking the living room furniture, deciding on a light brown, soft, microfiber couch that had recliners on either end of it. They chose a matching love seat and recliner, as well. They picked out a contemporary coffee table, and a blue rug to go under the table. They picked out a TV stand that they thought would look awesome in their living room. They picked a really nice kitchen table that had 6 matching chairs. They each picked out the bedding that they wanted for their rooms, Chloe and Max deciding that they would share a bed. They decided to get a 4th bedroom set, so they could have a guest room if they ever had anyone that wanted to stay over. The house thankfully had a washer and drier, as well as a refrigerator and stove, so they didn’t need to make those purchases. However, there was a lot of empty space in the finished basement, so they were trying to decide what they wanted to do with it. There was already a bar down there, so someone had the idea to get a pool table to put down there. They had also picked out some bar stools. She knew that they had made the salespersons day, as they knew They paid to get everything delivered and were told it was in the warehouse and could be dropped off there the next day. After that, the four of them headed to target to pick up some more decorations for the house, picking out plates and silverware buying appliances like coffee pots and a microwave. They got a large TV for the living room. They each picked out their bedding, and art for the walls. They spent hours shopping for their place, and dropped it off before heading back to Blackwell, in Rachel, Kate and Max’s cases, and back to her mom’s house in Chloe’s.

The next day before school Max, Rachel, and Kate walked in to talk with the principal. They had told him that they had decided they wanted to live off campus, as there was too much trauma there for Max and Kate, and that they needed Rachel there for support. The principal acted like he understood, but Max thought he was probably just trying to save face from another scandal. _Principal forces students that were attacked to continue living on campus if they want to attend school._ Chloe met them after classes let out and started helping them move their stuff from their dorm rooms and into the backs of Max’s and her cars. It took a couple of hours to get everything important into the cars. They planned on grabbing things gradually over the rest of the week. They were excited as they pulled up to the house, Chloe having Max park her car in the garage, as it was a bit nicer than hers. They unloaded the cars and took everything inside. The 3 who had been at school all day growing excited as they saw the furniture dropped off and set up for them. After unloading everything from the cars and putting them in their rooms, the 3 girls sat down in the living room to relax in front of the tv, choosing a movie to put in the dvd player. They placed an order for Chinese delivery and spent the next couple of hours enjoying their time together.

When it was time to go to bed, she was glad that Chloe had been there earlier to make up their bed. They changed into the pajama’s brushed their teeth and laid down together in the bed. They talked quietly for a while, sharing sleepy kisses in between longer lulls in conversation until they were both almost falling asleep. Max looked up at Chloe from her position of resting her head on the blue haired girl’s chest and lightly bit her lip.

“Chloe,” Max whispered, “Are you still awake?”

“Yeah, babe. Whats up,” the girl answered sleepily.

“Is it too soon for us to get a kitty together?”

“Really” Chloe asked, sounding more excited. “I would love to be able to have another one. David was allergic, so I couldn’t. Maybe we could go look this weekend?”

“Sure,” Max said around a yawn before leaning in to kiss Chloe goodnight again. “mmm’ love you.”

Max closed her eyes. Then suddenly opened them again, as what she said registered in her mind. She sat up in bed and looked at Chloe with wide eyes, as her face turned red. She was about to lift her hand to rewind, when Chloe grasped it and pulled it down.

“Don’t you dare rewind that,” She told her firmly, sitting up to pull her into a hug. “I know we’ve only just gotten together, but you can love me if you want to. We’ve known each other forever. I don’t find it weird, and if it makes you feel better, I love you too.”

Max felt her insides melt before Chloe grabbed her cheek and pulled her in for another lingering kiss, before pulling away slowly, and tugging Max back down to snuggle with her. They each fell asleep that night with smiles on their faces, Max drifting off hearing the thump of Chloe’s heart beneath her head.


	12. Chapter 12

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: some smut in this chapter. Also, I know the foster should have been my next chapter, but i had more outlined for this one, so i just went with it.

The weekend reached the friends pretty quickly. By the time the weekend got to them, Kate, Max, and Rachel had moved the rest of their stuff into the new place. They also had someone come out to set up their internet. They were grateful to finally have access to streaming, and instantly started binge watching shows on Netflix, as they took their time unpacking all of their belongings, as well as making trips to Walmart for the things they had forgotten. They also decided to stock up on groceries early in the week, so they didn’t have to do it later on. Frank had come over on Tuesday, toting a box of alcohol for them. Max slid the cash into his hand as they took it down to the bar in the basement. He and Rachel had disappeared up to her room fairly early into the night, and the other girls didn’t see her again until morning.

Max and Chloe had talked to their other 2 roommates to make sure neither of them would be opposed to them getting a cat. Kate and Rachel had gotten very excited about it and started scrolling through the available cats at the local animal shelter. There were so many adorable cats and the couple was very excited to go visit with them on Saturday. On Thursday when Max came home from school, Chloe had told her that she had signed up to take her GED classes in the Spring semester.

“Really,” Max questioned with surprise. “That’s a bit of a surprise. What made you decide you wanted to do that?”

“You,” Chloe told her gently before wrapping her arms around her waist, and bending her head to press her lips to Max’s. “Being here with you makes me want to do better in life. You deserve the best.”

“Chloe,” Max responded softly. “You already are the best. I hope you don’t feel like you have to do something because of me.”

“I don’t feel like _have_ to because of you,” Chloe stated thoughtfully. “I _want_ to do it.”

“God, you two are so sweet,” Rachel yelled from the living room, “that you’re literally gonna make me hurl.”

“Love you, too, bitch,” Chloe yelled back out to her, laughing. The blue haired girl turned back to her girlfriend. “Starting this January, your girls gonna be taking GED classes at the community college.”

“I’m proud of you,” Max said sincerely. “I know you’ll do really well.”

Friday was a pretty big blur of activity, so it seemed like Saturday was there in the blink of an eye. Chloe and Max woke up early and got ready to head to the shelter. They were some of the first people there, and Max bounced through the door excitedly. The two of them walked into the free roaming cat room and sat down on the floor with of all of the cats. They had only been sitting on the floor for about 5 minutes when the cutest little black kitten came and jumped up onto Chloe’s shoulder. He was rubbing his little face against Chloe’s cheek, and giving cute little purrs. While the little black kitten was snuggling with Chloe, an equally tiny orange cat came up and started sniffing at Max. Rolling over onto her back as if to ask for belly rubs.

“Awww, wook at the wittle baby kitties,” Max said with a baby voice as she started scratching the orange cat under her chin. “Baby, I don’t know how we’re gonna choose between them.”

“I definitely want the black cat,” Chloe said as reached a hand up to her shoulder and started scratching him behind the ears. “He’s a little sweetie pie.”

“Awww, but look at the little orange baby,” Max said as she lifted the orange kitty from the ground and held her up to her chest. The two of them staring at Chloe with pleading eyes. Max had a cute little pout on her face that made Chloe want to kiss it off. She couldn’t restrain herself and leaned forward to press their lips together.

“Well, I guess we do have a pretty big place,” Chloe said as she pulled away. “we could just take them both.”

Max started nodding her head up and down excitedly, and the two of them walked off toward the receptionist desk to fill out applications for the kitties. Chloe had gone to meet with the landlady on Wednesday morning to pick up a letter stating that she was okay with them having pets. They had been asked questions about if they had had any pets, and if they could afford to take both of the kittens. After assuring the woman that they were able to take care of the kittens, the two of them paid for them. They were informed that they were both spayed and neutered, and had gotten their rabies shots, and deworming injections done. They told them that they would need to take the cats to see their new vets within 7 days and were given paperwork that the vet would send to them to let them know it had been completed. They also had to purchase some temporary cat crates, as they hadn’t thought ahead to buy one before they came. Chloe sat in the back seat with the kitties, as they meowed the whole way home. Max stopped at a pet supply store, and ran in while Chloe stayed with them for comfort. She picked out more permanent cat carriers, as well as a kitty litter pan for each of them. She went a bit overboard, buying them a bunch of toys to play with, as well as a large bag of Science Diet. She wanted to make sure to feed her kitties the healthiest food she could find. She did hurry, though, because she wanted to get her new babies home.

Max pulled into her garage 20 minutes later, and the two of them each grabbed a carrier and took them inside. Setting the carriers on the floor in the living room before heading out to the garage to grab the rest of the cat items. They took the kitty litter boxes down to the basement and set them up in the laundry room. They set up their food bowl and water bowls in the kitchen and headed back over to the living room to take the kitties out, so they could explore their new homes. They sat down together on the couch and released the cats from their temporary cages. They sat there together, each snuggling a kitten as they waited for Kate and Rachel to come down the stairs. They had just agreed on names, as their two housemates joined them, sitting together on the loveseat, and cooing at the little kitties.

“What are you calling them,” Kate asked as she stared at the two kittens with a smitten look on her face.

“This one,” Chloe said, as she reached up to scratch the black kitten on her shoulder, “is called Jinx, you know, because black cats are a jinx.”

“And this one is called Clover,” Max said as she held the kitty up to her chest. “like a four leaf clover for good luck. The orange fur makes me think of leprechauns.”

“That’s adorable,” Rachel squealed, lightly clapping her hands together and making grabby hands toward them. “I wanna hold one.”

Chloe laughed and handed Rachel Jinx, while Kate came over and asked if she could hold Clover. The couple watched their friends interact with the new household pets and smiled at each other. They reached to one another and held hands before Chloe reached for one of the toys they had sitting beside the couch and started waving around the toy. Watching as the kittens both perked their heads up and stared intently at the feathers at the end of the string. Max giggled as she saw the little butt wiggle’s the cats were giving before they pounced. They eventually took the cats down to the basement and showed them the litter boxes, placing them in it so they could smell the litter.

The next couple of weeks went by quickly for the four best friends and their new family members. Before they knew it, they were off for Thanksgiving. Rachel and Kate were throwing a friendsgiving at their house, while Max and Chloe went to Joyce and David’s place to share the holiday with them. Max was helping Joyce in the kitchen… well, as much as the woman would let her help. She had said that told the purple haired girl that her being there was a gift enough. Max had insisted on helping, as she mixed up the ingredients for the pumpkin pie that Joyce had placed out for her. Joyce had insisted on doing the crust of it, and brought her over the pie pan with the homemade crust, after pouring the pumpkin pie mix into the pie pan, Max slid it into the oven and set the timer. She went to stand by Joyce and started showing her videos of the shenanigans the kittens had gotten into that week. Joyce was laughing hysterically as she watched a video of Clover clawing at a toilet paper roll and unraveling the whole thing. Joyce had loved the kitties when she had come over to meet them and sat there snuggling with them for an hour before she eventually left.

After the four of them stuffed themselves full of Joyce’s delicious feast, Chloe and Max started looking through the Black Friday adds. The roommates were planning on going out shopping that night and the girls wanted to plan ahead. They knew they were planning on getting a lot of their Christmas shopping out of the way. Max wanted to get the Xbox one that had been released a few days prior and wanted to get the PlayStation 4 that had been released earlier in the month as a present for Chloe. The friends met up at 2 am for the Walmart opening, and rushed in the door. Max had asked Rachel to distract Chloe while she had run to get her the PlayStation. While she was in electronics, she grabbed the Xbox, too. She paid for them while she was back there and took off her coat to cover the PlayStation in case she ran into Chloe. Max ran them out and hid them in the trunk of her car. The girls had thought of a system before leaving, where they had 4 different blankets. Each of them had planned on putting their gifts under one of the blankets so no one could see what they bought each other.

She headed back into the store and wound up meeting with Chloe. The blue haired beauty had yelled at her not to look in the cart as she hurriedly removed her coat and threw it over the presents she had gotten for Max. Max handed her the debit card that the four friends had been sharing, as well as her car keys so Chloe could hide her gifts in the trunk, as well. The two of them met up a bit later and started shopping for their parents and other friends. A few hours later the girls were shopping at Target, when Max suddenly felt like she was going to throw up. She left her cart with Chloe and rushed off toward the nearest bathroom, hand holding her mouth to try and stop herself from being sick. The girl entered the bathroom and saw that all of the toilets were occupied. She looked around frantically and raced towards the trash can, releasing her stomach contents into it.

“Max,” She heard Rachel’s voice come from behind her and rested a hand upon her back, “Are you okay? I saw you running this way, and thought I would come check on you“

“Something at dinner must not have agreed with me,” Max muttered, as she continued to gag into the garbage can.

“I think we should get you home,” Rachel said gently, as she continued to rub at her back. “You don’t to be out shopping when you’re feeling terrible. If you want, we can take you back home, and I can buy some of the stuff for you.”

Max nodded, as the nausea dissipated a little and turned towards the sink. She washed her hands, and then cupped some water in her hands to put over her face. Rachel led her out of the bathroom, and the two of them started searching through the crowd for their other friends. They found Chloe near where Max had run off trying to control both her own, and Max’s carts. She saw Max’s pale faces as the two girls neared her, eyes instantly taking on a worried look.

“Babe, are you okay,” Chloe questioned, as she looked deep into her eyes.

“I think I need to go home,” The petite girl with the purple hair said, “something I ate must not have agreed with me. I just threw up in the bathroom.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, Max,” Chloe told her sadly, “I know you’ve been looking forward to doing your Christmas shopping.”

“Maybe I’ll feel better after getting some sleep and I can go out some more later.”

“Yeah, if you’re feeling better, you and I can go,” Chloe said gently, as she led Max out to the car. Rachel had wandered off to search for Kate. The two of them joined Max and Chloe in the car, and the four of them headed home. Chloe helped Max up to bed and tucked her in, pressing a soft kiss against her forehead. “Do you want me to stay?”

“No,” Max replied gently, “You guys go on back out. Get those good deals.”

“Alright,” Chloe said, “but I’m gonna keep checking in on you. Let me know if you need anything, Okay?”

“Of course,” Max gushed back at her. _I love this girl so much._ Chloe leaned forward and pressed a long loving kiss to Max’s lips, the two girls humming together for a moment before the pulled apart. “See you later. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Chloe said, pressing another brief kiss to her lips before heading out the door. Max turned over on her side and grabbed Chloe’s pillow, snuggling it up against her and resting her head upon it like when she would rest her head on her girlfriend’s chest. She was moments away from falling asleep, when she felt the nausea coming back, bile rising slowly up her throat. She jumped at of bed and ran for the bathroom. Thankfully since she was home, she was able to actually make it into the toilet. She spent the next several minutes dry heaving into the toilet. She stood back up shakily, and grabbed her toothbrush, quickly cleaning her teeth. Max slowly made her way back to her and Chloe’s comfortable bed, tossing and turning for a few minutes before she finally fell asleep.

The next time Max opened her eyes, Chloe was sitting next to her in the bed. The blue haired girl as gently rubbing her hand up and down Max’s bare back, having lifted her shirt up in the back to get to her skin.

“Have a good nap,” Chloe asked her with a gentle teasing tone in her voice, as Max turned back over to look at her.

“mm’ yeah,” the shorter girl mumbled. “What time is it? How long have you been home?”

“It’s a bit after 10,” Chloe responded, “I haven’t been home long. I missed you.”

“Missed you, too,” Max said gently, reaching her hand up to pull Chloe down for a kiss. “I feel even more better now that you’re home.”

Chloe pushed on Max’s shoulder until she was laying flat on the bed and swung a leg over Max’s left leg, so she could rest between the smaller girl’s parted thighs. She gave her a flirty smile, before bending down and pressing their lips together. Max sightly lifted her torso to press as much of her body against Chloe’s as possible. Chloe slid her hand down Max’s arm to grip her hand, and move it over her head, her other going to rest upon Max’s breast and squeezing gently, as she lightly ground herself against Max’s mound. Max released a groan into Chloe’s mouth and pulled back to catch her breath, as the Blue haired woman kissed from her mouth, down her jawbone to her neck. She nipped at the smaller girls neck, before soothing the spot with her tongue. Max released another groan before Chloe pulled back to look at her in the eye.

“I want to taste you,” Chloe said in a husky tone, causing heat to pool in Max’s stomach, and a slight throb between her folds. “will you let me taste you?”

“Ye-es, I’ve been wanting it for so long,” Max squeaked out, throat feeling very dry and nodding urgently, feeling another rush of arousal go down her center as Chloe gave her a look filled with heat. Max watched as Chloe pulled back from her, kneeling between her spread legs. She lightly tugged at at the end of Max’s top, causing Max to sit up, Chloe helping her pull it over her head. Chloe reached her right hand behind Max’s back and unhooked her bra, watching as Max threw it off to the side. Chloe removed her own top and bra before leaning back over to capture the girl’s lips, sliding their tongue’s together sensually as Chloe slid her hand up Max’s smooth stomach to tweak at her nipples. The freckled girl threw her head back and moaned.

“Fuck, Chloe,” Max groaned in pleasure She watched as the girl slowly kissed down her chest, moving to her right breast, nipping, licking and lightly sucking at her nipple. Max grabbed the back of Chloe’s head and pressed it against her chest. Chloe repeated the other side before kissing down Max’s torso, dipping her tongue into her bellybutton before continuing down. She continued placing open mouth kisses upon her stomach until she reached Max’s cotton pajama shorts. She pulled away again to kneel on her knees and slowly slid the shorts and her underwear off and tossed them to the floor behind her. Chloe looped her arm under Max’s knee and lifted, bringing her mouth to the side of the girl’s knee, and kissed her way up to the girl’s leg towards her center. As she made it up one side of the thigh and skipped to the other thigh, kissing and placing love bites. The blue haired girl was getting worked up, hearing the girl above her making light moans, and pleading for more.

Chloe looked up at her once more, staring deep into her eyes. Chloe remained eye contact as moved back towards Max’s folds. She ducked her head down at the last moment, bringing up her hand to gently separate Max’s fold. Chloe moved forward, licking from the entrance of Max’s vagina up to her clitoris. She brushed her tongue against her a few times, before sucking it into her mouth. Max could feel Chloe slowly sliding a finger into her. She pressed it in and out several times, making sure to continue paying attention to her girlfriend’s most pleasurable spot.

“babe,” She heard Chloe saying, as she inserted another finger inside of her and pumped them in and out of her, crooking her fingers and hitting her g-spot. Chloe continued to lick at her, and Max could feel her impending orgasm creep ever closer.

“Babe, wake up,” Chloe’s voice said between her legs. _How is she talking to me right now, when her mouth is busy?_ “I think you’re having a nightmare. Come on, baby. Open your eyes.”

Max felt her eyes snap open to see Chloe’s worried face hanging over hers. Max could feel her face turning vermillion as she took a few deep breaths to try and calm her breathing. Chloe perched next to her on the bed and pressed the back of her hand to Max’s forehead.

“Hmm, you feel a bit warm,” Chloe stated worriedly, “Do you still feel sick?”

“I feel much better,” Max answered, feeling the heat slowly leaving her face and moving to a sitting position. _Fuck, was that really just a dream? I want her so badly._

“It looked like you were having one hell of a nightmare,” Her girlfriend said before placing a hand on her cheek and tilting her head to kiss her. “Are you okay, now?”

“o-oh,” Max stuttered, feeling the blood start rushing back into her face. “It… wasn’t a nightmare. I was having a really intense dream.”

“Oh,” Chloe asked, interest lacing her voice, “was I in this dream at all?”

“You may have had a supporting role,” Max said with a flirty wink, trying to keep the laughter from her face. “It was actually Hotdog Man and me. He saved my life, and I just had to jump his weener.”

“What,” Chloe questioned, “you had a dream you fucked a hotdog instead of me?”

Max burst into laughter and leaned forward to rest her head on Chloe’s shoulder. _I love this girl so much._ She lifted her head from Chloe’s shoulder as she stopped laughing and pulled back to look into her eyes. The two of them leaned forward to kiss, arms wrapping around each other as they mapped out each other’s mouth. They slowed down the kiss, pecking a few times before separating.

“Chloe,” Max asked uncertainly, “do you… want to have sex with me?”

“Fuck yes,” Chloe yelled with conviction, “I just didn’t want to move too fast. I figured when you were ready you would let me know.”

“Oh, I’m ready,” Max informed her, “I pretty much wanted to jump you since I saw you at the hospital.”

Chloe snickered and leaned forward to press another kiss to Max’s lips. Before their lips had the chance to meet, the door behind them opened. Kate and Rachel stood in the doorway for a moment before making their way in the room.

“Hey,” Kate said, as she walked towards Max. “You feeling any better?”

“Much,” Max said, accepting Kate’s gentle hug.

“I’m glad you’re feel better,” Rachel said before handing her a tray with some chicken noodle soup and crackers on it. Max smiled at her in thanks, before crunching up her crackers and mixing them in the soup. She took several bites before she got full and pushed the tray away. She gave Chloe a look that promised they would continue their conversation later that night. The four friends made their way down to the living room. They relaxed for another hour before Max decided she wanted to go back out shopping. Chloe and Kate were all shopped out, but Rachel was ready to go out again.

Rachel and Max headed back out. The two of them drove an hour to get to the nearest mall, and excitedly walked in. The two of them ran in and out of several stores. They purple haired girl had most of her Christmas shopping done. Max bought Chloe a bunch of band t-shirts when they went into Hot Topic. She also bought a set for her to start gauging her ears while she was there, as well as several different rings for her nose and lip. After Hot Topic the two of them headed into a Spencer’s Gifts that was across the way from Hot Topic. While they were in there they came across some drinking games, and grabbed one of each. They thought it would be fun to have some options for when they throw parties. At the back of the store, they found a section that had vibrators, condoms, and lubricant. Max picked up one of the vibrators, causing Rachel to give her an over exaggerated wink.

“Chloe not pleasing you yet,” The blond asked with a teasing tone. Max started giggling before returning her wink.

“Actually, we were talking about how we wanted to start having sex before you and Kate walked in.”

“Well shit,” Rachel said, “You could have kicked us out and told us you were busy. We would have understood.”

“It’s okay,” Max assured her, “We may not have done it right away, anyways.”

“Sooooo,” Rachel said, giving her a considering look, “Do want to go to an adult store? See if we can maybe find you something sexy to wear tonight?”

After an affirmative answer, the two girls headed to the register and checked out. Max was excited, she wanted to look good for her girlfriend. _Good enough to eat._ Max snickered internally as the thought crossed her mind. Her dreamed popped back into her head and she felt herself getting aroused. The two girls headed for the car and stored their purchases in the truck. Max got into the drivers seat and turned on the car while Rachel pulled out her phone and googled the nearest store. After she finally got the directions pulled up, the two of them headed off to Swingers World.

They pulled up to the store and hurried inside. For some reason, they felt awkward walking in there, each of them grabbing a basket. Max turned slightly pink cheeked as they started perusing the aisles. The two of them were looking at the large amount of dildos and vibrators on the wall. Rachel made an interested sound and grabbed one that had a rotating tip and a little bunny on it that would massage her clit. She threw it in a basket and continued on, stopping to grab a large box of condoms. Max grabbed one like the one Rachel had and placed it in her own basket. She was walking past a display case when she saw a few strap ons in there. _We may not need that tonight, but it could come in handy later._ Max asked the shop assistant to open the case and grabbed one that was the same color as Chloe’s hair. Finally the girl headed towards the back of the shop and found the section with the sexy outfits in it. She found a sexy mesh thong and bra and threw them in her basket, continuing to flip through the clothes on the rack. She moved the next clothes over and found a very short silky cyan teddy. Max ran her fingers over it, and thought it felt very nice.

Max made her way to the check out counter, grabbing a pair of fluffy purple handcuffs as she made her way to the front of the line. Rachel wound up standing behind her in line, so the two of them compared purchases. Max raised her brow at the girl when she saw that the blond had a dominatrix outfit in her basket, as well as a whip and handcuffs. The blond also had a cock ring and nipple clamps and a sexy schoolgirl uniform. Rachel explained to Max that every now and again, she liked to have the pressure of the clamps on herself, and that she was wanting to try and see if Frank would let her dominate him every now and again. As Max reached the was being checked out, she added a bottle of massage oil. The two girls were driving back home, before Max had a thought pop into her mind.

“Do you think you could keep Chloe distracted while I get ready tonight,” Max asked the blond seriously.

“It would be my honor,” Rachel promised with a giggle. The two of them continued driving, laughing and singing all the way home. After they parked in the garage at home, Max ran up to hers and Chloe’s bedroom, as Rachel started her operation of distracting Chloe. She heard the girl ask Chloe to play a quick game before she headed up. Max took a quick shower and then changed into the sexy panties and bra, pulling the teddy on over the top. Max set the massage oil on the bedside table, as she pulled out a couple of candles and lit them up. After she thought everything looked like it was ready, she climbed onto their bed, sitting with her legs off to her side. Max turned some music on on her phone, and texted Chloe that she was going to bed early but wanted to get a goodnight kiss. A few minutes later, she heard thumping on the stairs as Chloe hurried her way up them. She could hear her talking before she even fully opened the door.

“Hey babe, you feelin o-“ Chloe cut off as her eyes took in Max sitting on their bed. “Holy fuck! Baby, you look so sexy!”

Max lifted her hand and wiggled her finger, gesturing her to come closer. Chloe turned and closed the door, locking it behind her. The blue haired girl turned back towards her and prowled closer, eyes staring at Max intently.


	13. Chapter 13

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: Trigger warning: some mention of self-harm. Nothing too outrageous, and it is done in a dissociative state. There is also an anxiety attack described in this chapter.

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Max woke up the next morning feeling very relaxed. As the previous night’s activities filtered into her mind, Max felt herself smiling. She was remembering the feel of Chloe trailing kisses all over her body, and the pleasure that had released through her body as the girl went down on her for the first time. Max remembered thinking that it was even better than in her dreams, and blushed as she thought about how loud her moans had become. She was sure her friends on the ground floor had been able to hear them. Chloe had been just as vocal as Max, as the freckled girl returned the favor. She remembered the taste of Chloe on her tongue, and how much it had turned her on as she reciprocated the act upon her girlfriend. She could feel herself becoming aroused as she remembered Chloe’s legs clamping around her ears as the blue haired girl loudly enjoyed her orgasm. Max was pulled from her thoughts, as she heard Chloe release a soft moan behind her. She felt her girlfriend’s arms briefly tighten around her before her voice whispered in her ear.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Chloe whispered, placing a light kiss behind her ear, before kissing the smaller girl’s cheek, causing Max to turn her head to capture the other’s lips in a loving kiss. After the two of them parted, Max turned around in Chloe’s arms to face her. Chloe gave her a blinding smile before opening her mouth to speak again. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“Wonderful,” Max breathed, as she moved her hand to trail softly up and down Chloe’s side. “Last night was great. How are you?”

“Mmm, I feel so good,” Chloe teased the other girl as she lowered her arm to rest her hand upon the swell of Max’s ass. Chloe moved forward and pressed another kiss to Max’s lips and pulled back to look deeply into her eyes. “and yes… last night was wonderful. You were wonderful.”

Max looked lovingly into Chloe’s eyes as the two of them continued to steal kisses from one another. Max trailed her hand from Chloe’s hip to cup on of her breasts, giving it a light squeeze as the two of them massaged their tongues together. Max pressed the blue haired down to lay on her back and leaned over her, as they continued kissing. The purple haired girl slid her hand seductively from Chloe’s breast down over the girl’s stomach to rest upon her mound. Max pulled away from the kiss so she could look into Chloe’s eyes as she gently slid her fingers into her girlfriend. She watched as Chloe’s widened, pupils blown with lust, before closing as the girl released a soft moan. Max continued to watch Chloe as she pumped her fingers in and out Chloe, moving a thumb to brush against the girl’s clit.

“Max, “Chloe moaned out as she reached up to pull into a sloppy kiss. They were still kissing when Chloe released a loud moan into Max’s mouth, and Max felt the girls inner walls start closing around her fingers. They separated moment’s later, Chloe watching as Max withdrew her hands from between her legs, and brought a finger to her lips, sucking down to the knuckle. “Fuck, you’re so hot.”

Max giggled and winked as she cleaned off the rest of her fingers before leaning down to press their lips together again. Chloe could taste herself upon her girlfriend’s lips and moaned against her mouth. As they kissed, Chloe took a moment to wrap an arm around Max’s waist to turn her onto her back. Chloe straddled the girls hips and bent down to kiss Max deeply, thrusting her tongue in between the girl’s lips. She pulled back and looked into her girlfriend’s eyes as she slowly moved down the bed.

“I’m gonna make you come,” The blue haired girl said fiercely before leaning forward to press her tongue against the other girls most pleasurable spot. Max released a wail as Chloe sucked at her, and slid a finger into her vagina. Max’s hand flew to clutch into Chloe’s hair, pressing the girls face forward as she continued swirling her tongue around the little nub. Chloe moved her head down as she removed her fingers and began licking at Max’s entrance. She lifted her hand and began to press against the other girl’s pleasure button. She could feel the Max’s fingers scraping against her scalp as she released moan after moan. Chloe switched back to using her fingers inside of the girl and started sucking and licking at Max’s clit again. She could tell the girl was getting close as she chanted her name between loud moans, and she smirked internally as the girl clamped her legs around her head, as her hands instinctively tightened in her hair. The other girl eventually came down from her eye and released Chloe from between her legs.

“Fuck, Chloe,” Max said as the girl came back up to press their lips together. The two of them were laying there together kissing before Max her one of their phones vibrate on the side tables. The two of them pulled apart and Max reached over to grab her phone, pressing the home button to view a message. She turned bright red as she saw the message on her phone.

Kate: 11/30/2013 – 7:45am – Wow. You two sure are loud in the morning. I may have to invest in earplugs.

Chloe chuckled as she read the message over Max’s shoulder. Max felt blush fade as she started giggling, as well. The two of them eventually got out of bed and put on some clothes to make their way to the bathroom. After showering and brushing their teeth the two of them made their way back to their room and then down to the kitchen. Max sat at the table watching as Chloe pulled out ingredients to make her mom’s recipe for pancakes. Their roommates joined them after the blue haired girl yelled up the stairs that she had made breakfast.

Over the next week, Max continued having random bouts of random vomiting and nausea. The girl’s roommates were starting to get worried about her, urging her to go to the doctor. The most embarrassing one was when they she was on a Thursday afternoon, in her second to last class of the day, chemistry, and the smell of one of the chemicals sent her stomach reeling. She hadn’t even made it out of the classroom before she threw up all over the floor. Max continued moving towards the exit, running out of the door, and continuing on her way to the bathroom. After she was violently ill for the next few minutes.

After shakily making her way from her knees to stand, she moved over to the sink to rinse the taste out of her mouth, turning to look around her surroundings. She caught looked at herself in the mirror, noting that she looked very pale. She turned to look to the side and saw the tampon vending machine on the other wall. _No thanks, I’m good to flow._ As soon as the thought appeared in her head, Max felt her mind grind to a sudden halt. She paused trying to remember when she had last had a period, and felt the blood drain even more from her face. _Oh no. no, no, no, no._ Max hurried from the bathroom and ran out to the parking lot. She jumped in her car and sped off towards a Walgreens. She made her way nervously down the aisles as she walked towards the pregnancy test. Max grabbed three different varieties of tests and headed her way towards the counter. Max didn’t make eye contact with the cashier as she paid for her tests.

She sent a text to Rachel and Kate, letting them know she had gone home from school sick. The girls sent back messages wishing her well and letting her know taking the bus wouldn’t kill them. Max saw that Chloe wasn’t home as she pulled into the garage. She hurried to the bathroom and pulled out a little cup for her to put her urine in that came with one of the tests. She pulled out the three different tests and dipped them in the urine and set the timer on her phone. She sat on the toilet with her head in her hands as she waited for the alarm to ring. When it finally did, she slowly raised her head and lifted the first test. Max felt her stomach drop as she saw the two red lines going across the test. The girl felt her world shake, as she lifted the second test and saw the same result. Max shuddered as she lifted the last test and saw the word pregnant displayed on the little screen.

Max stood up from the toilet and wrapped the tests in a washcloth before walking numbly to the living room and collapsed on the couch, staring blankly ahead. _This is it… Chloe will leave me. Everything is over. The world ends today._ Her thoughts continued spinning around her head, as tears began rapidly streaming from her eyes. She was complete out of it, not even realize as she started rocking back and forth and lifted her hands, drawing her nails across her forearms, leaving shallow scrapes trailing across the expanse of skin. Max could vaguely feel her mouth and throat becoming dry. It felt as if she had swallowed a cup full of gravel and glass. Every time she swallowed, she felt like she was trying to get a lump the size of a jawbreaker down her throat. The sound of her blood pounded in her ears, and she clutched at her chest as she felt her heart palpitating. It was becoming more and more difficult to breath; her breaths were coming in rapid pants and she was starting to become dizzy from the low amount of oxygen in her system. She didn’t hear as the front door opened, admitting two sets of footsteps before clicking shut. The two pairs of feet started running towards her, as the heard the rasping breaths coming from the living room.

“Max,” Rachel yelled as she entered the room, instantly connecting her eyes to Kate’s before continuing, “I think she’s having an anxiety attack! Call Chloe!”

Rachel climbed onto the couch and grabbed Max’s hands to stop her from shredding up her arms anymore than she had done. Jinx and Clover had jumped onto the couch behind her and were licking and nipping at her earlobes, as if they were trying to pull her from the attack. Rachel could hear Kate on the opposite side of the room, with a shaking voice asking Chloe to come home quickly because something was wrong with Max. Rachel grabbed Max’s shoulders and gently helped to turn her so Max’s back was facing Rachels front and brought her feet onto the couch, tugging Max against her chest. 

“Breath with me Max,” Rachel muttered as she started rubbing her hands in soothing motions up and down the purple haired girl’s arms. The blond released a muttered “in” before she took in a long deep breath and held it for a second before saying “out” and slowly releasing it. The blond continued repeating herself for what felt like hours, but was really only minutes, before she started to feel Max’s breath start to match hers. She pressed a soft sisterly kiss to the girl’s temple, whispering that she could do this, before continuing to breath with the girl. Eventually the only sounds in the room were the sounds of Max’s continued sobs and the squelching sound the couch made as Kate perched herself on the arm and grabbed one of the other girl’s hands.

“Are you okay now,” Kate whispered sadly. “What happened?”

“Clogunleeme” Max croaked incoherently in between broken sobs, her shoulders shaking violently. “s’al ovr.”

“Sweetie,” Rachel said gently behind her. “We can’t understand you. Can you say that again, but… maybe a little bit slower?”

“Chloes… gonna… LEAVE me,” Max eventually forced out, as she tried to stop herself from crying. She found herself unable to look at either of her friend’s faces.

“Max, Chloe loves you,” Kate told her gently and squeezed her hand. “She wouldn’t leave you… no way, no how.”

“Is Chloe on her way,” Rachel mouthed from behind Max as she caught Kate’s eye, the other girl giving her a quick nod. Out loud, the blond continued, as she tried to distract Max.” Max… I’ve been friends with Chloe, now, for a few years. In all that time I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her as happy as she is with you. You’re the one who makes her world continue spinning.”

Outside the three of them heard tires screech, as someone made a quick stop. Two car doors slammed shut, and the front door burst open. The sound of footsteps came racing into the room, Chloe looking around wildly until her eyes landed upon her girlfriend’s small frame. Joyce was hurrying in behind her. When Chloe had told her she had to leave because something was wrong with Max. In her eyes the small girl was her second daughter, and with her parents so far away, Joyce knew she wanted to be there for her.

“Baby,” Chloe yelled as she raced around the couch, pulling the sobbing girl onto her lap as Rachel pulled back and moved to sit on the love seat with Kate. Chloe rubbed her hand’s up and down Max’s back, as Joyce sat on the seat next to them and started trying to sooth Max as well. “What’s going on?”

“You’re gonna break up with me,” Max cried out, turning her head and burying it into Chloe’s warm neck. Tears continued streaming down her face, leaving a growing wet spot forming on Chloe’s shirt. “everyone is gonna hate me, now.”

“What,” Chloe question, confusion coloring her voice, “Max, there is literally nothing you could do that would make me leave you. You could rip my still beating heart out of my chest, and I’d still stay with you.”

“Chloe,” Joyce said sternly, “Don’t be so morbid. That’s gross. Honey, no one could ever hate you. You’re one of the greatest people we know.”

Max shook her head in a negative gesture, even as everyone else in the room agreed with Joyce. She could feel Chloe press a kiss to her ear, begging her in a whisper to talk to her. Max moved her head and looked into Joyce’s eyes. She didn’t know how she could get the words to come out of her mouth. She looked away from the older blond woman, and her eyes landed on the rolled-up washcloth that was hiding her deepest pain on the coffee table. She didn’t have the strength inside her to say anything. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Joyce looking between her and the table. She winced as the woman slowly stretched out a hand to pick up the bundle from the table. Max shoved her head back into Chloe’s neck, as if to shield the world from seeing her face. She didn’t think her heart could handle seeing the disgust and revulsion appear on everybody’s faces. She heard a broken gasp come from the seat next to herself and Chloe and heard something being placed gently back on the table.

“Oh, Honey,” Joyce said, pulling Max from a protesting Chloe’s arms, and bundling her into one of the tightest and most loving hugs the girl had ever received in her life. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, but I still love you. No matter what… and if you think Chloe will love you any less because of this, you’ve got another thing coming. I know my baby almost better than I know myself. She is fiercely loyal.”

“What is it,” Chloe asked shifting as she reached around her mom and Max, grabbing the cloth on the table. She could feel three hard, plastic items wrapped up inside. She slowly unraveled the towel with bated breath. She was nervous to see what was in there. She stared at the three white sticks in confusion for a moment, lifting one up to her face to get a better look. Her eyes trailed over the test, narrowing in until they landed on the word pregnant. As soon as the word finished in her mind, Chloe’s eyes widened. _My poor Maxi. I’m gonna kill those fuckers._ She narrowly heard Kate and Rachel making sounds of distress as they finally caught on to what had set off their best friend.

“Babe,” Chloe whispered brokenly. “I don’t hate you. I love you more than anything else in the world. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I do hate the people that caused you this pain. I wish them a slow, painful death.”

“I’m disgusting,” Max grumbled. “how can you look at me and not see how awful I am?”

“I don’t like it when people say mean things about my girlfriend,” Chloe told her sternly, yet lovingly. “You are not disgusting. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever known, and I am proud to be your girlfriend. Not only are you not disgusting, but you are also a divine angel sent from above to be my partner in this world. You helped to pull me from the darkness, and for the first time since my dad died, I have been able to see the light. I feel like I can breathe for the first time in 5 years, and that’s because of you.”

“If I’m not aloud to think I’m broken or ruined after what they did to me,” Kate chimed in softly from the sofa, “Then neither are you. There is nothing wrong with either of us. They are the ones that are broken and ruined… they’re disgusting… Not us.”

The next hour was spent consoling the girl and trying to get her to see how much she was loved. There was crying all around, as they felt so much sorrow for their friend, lover, or secondary daughter. As Joyce helped the girl bandage her scraped arms, Max started to panic again as she realized that she would have to tell her parents. Joyce nipped that in the bud by asking Max if she wanted her to call them for her. They all assured her that her parents would love her just as much as they do. After a silent nod and a grateful look from Max, Joyce deposited her back onto Chloe’s lap and made her way into the kitchen so Max wouldn’t have to hear the conversation. Vanessa had answered cheerily until she heard the somber tone in Joyce’s voice. She had called for Ryan after her old friend had asked if they were both available for a talk. After confirming that they were indeed sitting down, Joyce slowly broke the news to them. She could hear Vanessa’s soft sobs coming from the other side of the line, and Ryan’s growled comment about slaughtering the pigs that did this. When Joyce informed her that Max was worried they were going to be angry with her, the two of them immediately denied any anger. Joyce heard Vanessa ordering to Ryan that they were going to go to Arcadia Bay to comfort their daughter.

After Joyce and the Caulfield’s hung up, the woman wearily made her way back into the living room. Max appeared to be sleeping with her head on Chloe’s shoulder and a leg thrown over either side of the girl’s thighs. Chloe herself was staring off into space, idly running her hands from the base of the girls spine, and up to squeeze her shoulders. Joyce made her way over, resting her hand on Chloe’s shoulder which brought the girl out of her daze. She tilted her head back and made eye contact with Joyce.

“How did it go,” The daughter quietly asked her mother.

“It went,” Joyce responded, giving a light sniffle as she rubbed at her red, puffy eyes. “They told me that they’re going to come down and that they’ll probably be here sometime tomorrow.”

Chloe nodded and blinked blearily, pulling out her own phone and sending them a brief text with their new address, and letting them know that they could stay in the guest room. Joyce had suggested that the two of them go upstairs and take a nap after having such an emotional afternoon. Chloe nodded and repositioned Max to a bridal position, standing slowing and making her way to their bedroom. Joyce ran ahead of her to fold down the blankets. Chloe nodded her thanks and gently laid the girl in the bed and pulled the blanket up to cover her. Chloe went to the other side and climbed in behind her, pulling the other girl against her front. She saw Joyce bending over to press a kiss against Max’s forehead before making her way over and doing the same to Chloe.

As Joyce made her way down the stairs, she could hear Kate and Rachel talking. Kate was telling the other girl that she wanted to take a pregnancy test, too. She said that she had had some spotting, but that she just wanted to make sure. Rachel had told the girl she would drive her to the pharmacy and grabbed Max’s car keys. They asked Joyce if she wanted them to drop her off at home, but Joyce declined the offer, telling the girls that she was going to make some dinner. She wanted to be there for the girl’s when they woke up to check on them. She told them she would have David come get her later.

Kate and Rachel returned 10 minutes later, and the pink haired girl ran up the stairs to take use the test. Rachel sat next to Joyce on the couch, waiting nervously for her other friend to come back down. A few minutes later Kate came back down. They knew the results before she even opened her mouth as the relief on her face was easily visible. The two women sighed in relief. They were glad that they at least got one set of good news that day. On her way into the kitchen, Joyce squeezed Kate’s shoulder. She started looking through the girl’s cupboards and refrigerator. She saw that they had some chicken breasts in the meat drawer, and ingredients that she could make chicken and dumplings. She realized she hadn’t made it since William had passed and remembered how much Chloe and Max had loved it when they were younger. She pulled chicken broth, a stalk of celery, the chicken, and the dry ingredients to make the dumpling mix.

A couple of hours later she was spooning the meal into 5 bowls. She told Rachel and Max that there was dinner on the table for them, as she made her way up the staircase. She lightly knocked before entering the girl’s room. She saw that they were awake and had been whispering together as she made her way through the door. The two girls made their way out of bed and paused to give Joyce a hug as they stepped into the hallway. Chloe froze as the smell from the kitchen reached her nose. She instantly felt a flood of nostalgia.

“Is that… Did you make Chicken and Dumplings,” Chloe asked, slowly turning to look at her mom. Max’s head popped up in excitement and started sniffing the air as well. The two of them hurried to the kitchen as soon as they saw Joyce begin to nod. Joyce snorted, as she slowly made her way down the stairs. The two girls were already shoveling the meal into their mouths. She chuckled as she took her own seat and started eating the meal. She smiled as she remembered how much William had loved when she made this. While they were eating there was a knock at the door. Rachel got up to answer it and saw David standing there with his hand raised to knock a second time. The blond invited him in, and told him they were all in the kitchen.

The girls invited him to join them while the feasted on the chicken and dumplings. Joyce jumped up to make him a bowl as he took a seat across from where Joyce was seated. Joyce smiled as she watched him take his first bite, and his eyes flutter closed. He hurried to shovel the rest of it in his mouth, eyeing the pan to decide if he wanted to get a second helping. He decided against it because he was so full, but it was very tempting. Chloe had stood after dinner and started digging out their pyrex storage containers. Chloe split the leftovers into two, sending half of them home with Joyce and David.

The next evening Ryan and Vanessa showed up. Vanessa immediately pulled Max into a tight embrace and began sobbing into her hair. She spent a while telling her how sorry she was that this had happened to her. While the mother and daughter hugged and talked, Chloe helped Ryan take their luggage up to the guest bedroom. When they made their way downstairs Ryan stopped by Max, waiting for his chance to give her a hug. Eventually he cut in and lifted his petite daughter from her feet. He squeezed her tight and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. The group made their way into the living room, Ryan and Vanessa taking seats on the loveseat, and Max waiting until Chloe sat down and stealing a seat on her lap. Chloe smiled and kissed her cheek as she pressed the button to open the footrest. She saw Ryan give an interested look before he hurried to look to the side of his seat to find the button. She saw a brief triumphant look enter his eyes as he raised the footrest and continued pressing the button until he was reclining. Vanessa gave him an exasperated look with an eyeroll before she looked back at her daughter and her girlfriend.

“So,” Vanessa said awkwardly, “Have you thought about what you want to do? We will support you no matter what you decide.”

“I… hadn’t really thought about it much, to be honest,” Max told her, averting her eyes to look at her stomach. “I don’t know if I can… get rid of it. I don’t begrudge women who do. I’m all for a woman’s right to choose, but I don’t think for me, personally, that I would be able to do it.”

“That’s okay, babe,” Chloe told her, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. She could see Vanessa smile out of the corner of her eyes. “I would never ask you to do that. We will go along with whatever you want to do.”

“I figure I’ll probably carry the baby, and put it up for adoption once it’s born,” Max said after pausing for a moment.

“If that is what you want to do,” Ryan said gently, “then we will be there for you every step of the way.”

“Have you set up any appointments with your ob-gyn,” Vanessa asked, brushing her hair behind her ear and looking into Max’s eyes.

“I called them this morning,” Max said while nodding. “I have an appointment with them next Friday.”

The family stayed up talking until 11:30 when Max started yawning continuously. The family parted ways at the top of the stairs to head to their separate rooms. The next day the roommates and Max’s parents decided to try to distract Max by taking her out to get a Christmas tree and other decorations. They returned a few hours later and started putting out their decorations. Ryan headed outside to hang their lights, while Vanessa helped Chloe and Rachel put the tree into their tree stand. They had bought a lot of ice blue and silver decorations. They found a tree skirt that was the perfect color. It was covered in silver glitter swirls and had a silver rope around the outer edge.

Later that night, Max looked around the living room and had a large smile on her face. She thought that the room looked beautiful. They had found a stocking hanger at the store and set it up on their console table. They had gotten a stocking for each of the roommates and 2 small stockings for their kittens. At one point, Vanessa and Max had gone upstairs so her mom could help her wrap her presents that Max had picked out for her family. Max had wrapped her mom’s gift before she let her come into her room. After they finished wrapping them, her mom grabbed her laundry basket and stacked them up in there, so they could easily take them downstairs. As the two of them stacked the presents neatly beneath the tree, Vanessa asked Max if she would mind if she spent the week there. She told her her dad would have to return to work Monday but could come back to pick her up the next weekend. Max had agreed that it would be nice to have both Chloe and her mom come with her for her first appointment.

Ryan left in the afternoon on Sunday, hugging Vanessa, Max and Chloe goodbye. He waved to the other two girls. He liked them but didn’t know them as well as he knew the blue haired girl. The next 5 days went by in a rush and before Max knew it, she was heading for her first appointment with Chloe and her mom. She sat between them in the waiting room, clutching tightly at each of their hands. Max was called in, and they set her on the bed. The nurse had checked her weight and sent her in to the restroom for a urine test. By the time the doctor entered the room, they had the results from the pregnancy test. The doctor sat down on a stool and made eye contact.

“So, the results did come back positive,” The woman stated brusquely, “When would you like to schedule it?”

“What do you mean,” Max questioned in confusion, “I don’t know. When do I _need_ to see you next?”

“No,” The doctor said, slightly rolling her eyes. Max could feel Vanessa stiffen before the doctor even opened her mouth again. “I mean when do you want to schedule the abortion?”

“Excuse me,” Vanessa inserted angrily, “First off, don’t talk to my daughter like she is incompetent. Secondly, did my daughter give you some sign that she wanted an abortion? No.”

“You can’t seriously want to keep this baby,” The woman said snootily, “It is the product of a rape, and you’re only in your Junior year of high school.”

“I didn’t say I was going to keep the baby,” Max snapped at her. “I had planned for putting it up for adoption.”

“That is the baby of a rapist,” The woman stated snidely, “Don’t you think it may inherit that trait?”

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Chloe yelled out as she reached her breaking point. _No one talks down to MY Max. “_ Last I checked, being a rapist isn’t something that is in someone’s genealogy. Traits that are hereditary are things like eyes, hair color, and height. Its all about nurture over nature, lady… and that baby is half Max, and she is the best person I know.”

“Come on, Honey,” Vanessa said, grabbing Max’s hand and pulling her to a standing position. “We’ll look for a new doctor for you.”

The mother glared at the doctor, before leading the other two girls out of the office. The three of them made their way out to the car, and Vanessa slammed the door as she took her seat. Chloe was impressed by how much the woman could fume. She hadn’t seen anyone that angry since herself. By the time the three of them had made it home, Vanessa had a list of five other doctors that they could look into. They spent the rest of the afternoon researching them and had finally narrowed it down to one. Vanessa listened in on the conversation as Max called to schedule an appointment for a consultation. The scheduler told her after the consultation, she wouldn’t need to be seen until her 10-week ultrasound. After Max had hung up with the office, Vanessa had snarked that that office already seemed much smarter than the last office. By the time her mom had left with Ryan the Sunday following her appointment, Max was feeling a lot more ready to face the world. She knew she would have Chloe and her family, blood and chosen, by her side the whole way. She knew she was loved.

Post AN – so, I based the doctor they saw in this chapter off a doctor that my best friend’s mom had when we were in junior high. My friend’s mom was pregnant, and the doctor told her that her baby had down syndrome and asked her when she wanted to schedule the abortion. She walked out on that appointment and found a new doctor. I think it’s pretty crappy of someone to just assume something like that.


	14. Chapter 14

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: spoiler warning for the movie Die Hard. I’m sure everyone’s probably seen it by now, but just in case. Lol also for this chapter underage drinking and recreational drug use. Also, some drunken sex between M/F.

On a Saturday afternoon a weekend before Christmas, Max and Kate got letters in the mail to let them know that Mark Jefferson’s trial would be starting at the end of January. Unfortunately, Nathan Prescott had accepted a plea deal to provide testimony against Mark Jefferson for a reduced sentence. Nathan was originally charged with 2 counts of first-degree rape, 2 counts of abduction, 2 counts of second-degree assault for administering drugs. He had pleaded down to 1 count of third-degree sexual assault in exchange for his testimony stating that Mark Jefferson had recruited him and manipulated him into helping. In exchange for his testimony he was given a year of house arrest, 3 years of probation, and a $25,000 fine. Kate and Max were absolutely furious.

“Of course, that pricks getting a break,” Max growled as she crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it in the garbage.

“Can’t let a member of the prestigious Prescott family go to prison,” Kate agreed viciously, “after all, his family wouldn’t want a _pretty boy_ like him to become someone’s prison bitch.”

“Do you want to go to the trial for Jeffershit next month,” Max questioned as she took deep, calming breaths. “Maybe go in and show that fucker that he didn’t win.”

“Yeah, I wanna look that pig in the eye while they sentence him,” Kate answered “I hope he gets life. Although, we’re just the start of it. I spoke with officer Sperry, and she told me that they had been in contact with the police in LA. I guess a lot of the pictures were from women there.”

“Too bad there’s not a sentence where he can be castrated,” Max stated sarcastically. “Give a whole new meaning to the word beheading.”

“Who’s being beheaded,” Chloe asked as she and Rachel walked into the kitchen arms loaded down with groceries. She set her load of groceries down on the kitchen table before stepping up to wrap Max in a hug and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Mmm, missed you.”

“You too,” Max told her, pressing a kiss to the blue haired girl’s lips in return. “We got notice that Jefferson is going up for trial next month. We want him castrated.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Rachel said, looking at Max over her shoulder as she started stowing groceries in the cupboards. “When is Prescunt’s trial, or did they say?”

“The bastard took a plea deal,” Kate said, pounding her hands down on the counter and storming over to the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of vodka, ripped off the cap, and put it to her lips, taking 3 large gulps, some sliding out of the corner of her lips. The three of other girls watched as the pink haired girl slammed the bottle on down on the counter, flinching as if waiting for it to break.

“Damn, Kate,” Chloe said, giving her a wide-eyed look.

“Sorry, I needed a stiff one,” Kate said, as she slid her sleeve covered arm across her mouth to wipe away the excess.

“Hey, don’t apologize to us,” Chloe told her gently, “we get it.”

Rachel walked over with a few shot glasses, offering one to Chloe, who waved her away. She raised her brow at her best friend but shrugged before grabbing the bottle, pouring herself a shot, and shooting it back.

“What are you doing,” Kate questioned with a confused smile.

“In this family, we don’t let a sister drink alone,” Rachel told her, taking two more shots in quick succession. The blond looked to Chloe. “You sure you don’t wanna join us?”

“No thanks,” Chloe answered, giving a quick shake of her head, “I’m not gonna drink again until Max can. Someone has to be sober with her.”

“Awww, babe,” Max said, pulling the girl into a hug. “You can drink without me. I don’t mind.”

“Mmmm, nope,” Chloe pressed another kiss to her lips, “I’ll wait with you.”

They ended up inviting some of their friends over. Dana showed up with Trevor and Justin in tow while Warren pulled up in his blue 1978 Oldsmobile cutlass. He climbed out of the driver’s seat and Alyssa, Brooke and Stella got out of his passenger seats. Warren hooked up his laptop to the tv and started searching through the movies on his flash drive. Chloe had Max had cuddled up close together on the recliner and were sharing kisses while they tried to decide on a movie. Dana had pushed Trevor down onto the loveseat and climbed into his lap, moving the seat into a reclining position, and snuggling in while they waited for the movie to start. Justin had taken the other seat and watched in a dazed high as Dana grabbed the other girl’s hand and pulled her down between Trevor and Justin. Rachel came into the room and started passing out drinks to people who were interested, pointing out one of the seats on the couch and calling dibs. Brooke and Stella looked at each other before hurrying to the couch and taking the two remaining seats. There was a gap where a fourth person could have fit, so Alyssa started heading toward it.

“That’s Warren’s seat,” Brooke told her snidely, “He’s supplying the movies, so he gets one of the seats. You can sit on the floor.”

“No need,” Warren said, looking back at the group. “I can sit on the floor.”

“Well, you’re a lot smaller than her,” Brooke stated, “I don’t think she would _fit_ with us.”

“I’ll sit on the floor,” Alyssa said, looking at her feet, “I don’t mind, Warren.”

Brooke went back to playing on her phone while Warren scrolled through the movies on his drive. She didn’t see the glare that Max was sending her way, or the tears that Alyssa had wiped from under her eyes. Chloe squeezed the girl’s hand, giving her a questioning _look_ and making sure she was okay. Max nodded and slowly moved her eyes back towards the screen. Eventually the friends decided on doing a Christmas movie marathon and started playing Elf. Warren stood up and made his way over toward the couch. Brooke was patting the spot next to her and giving him an attempt at a flirty smile. He gave her a confused look, as he realized that there would have been plenty of room for Alyssa. He shrugged, turned and sat on the floor next to the other girl, bumping their shoulders together. Brooke spent the first 45 minutes of the movie glaring at the back of the girl’s head, until the other girl got up to throw in another bag of popcorn. Brooke hurried after her, claiming that she wanted to get another soda.

“You need to back off of Warren,” Brooke hissed at her as she entered the kitchen while the other girl opened another plastic wrapped bag of popcorn. “He is mine. I’m already annoyed you went to see Back to the Future with him. If anyone should go to the movies with him it’s me. He’s gonna be MY boyfriend.”

“Does he know that,” Alyssa asked before looking at the girl. “Has he ever given you a hint he may like you?”

“He loves to talk science with me,” Brooke told her, “we have so much in common, so I know we’ll wind up together.”

“having things in common w-“ Alyssa started to say.

“Besides,” Brooke said, cutting her off and giving her a dark look which widened to a superior smirk as the she continued her sentence and tears started brimming in the chubby girl’s eyes, “you’d never be his type. Guys want skinny, attractive girls… not fat, ugly ones like you.”

“If you think that, you don’t know me at all,” Warren said from the doorway of the kitchen, eyes narrowed at Brooke in irritation. He walked over and threw an arm around Alyssa’s shoulders, and leveled his best glare back at the other girl. “You should probably call an uber. I’m not willing to give rides to someone as mean as you. And for the record, Alyssa is beautiful. Someone’s body mass does not attractive make.”

Warren heard the popping of the popcorn slowing down, and opened the microwave, pulling out the bag and dumping it into the bowl Alyssa was carrying. He opened the fridge and pulled out a coke for each of them before leading her out of the kitchen, past Brooke who was gaping at them. He led her over to the seat where Brooke had been sitting, and directed her to sit down, squeezing in between her and Stella, and taking ahold of her left hand with his right. Brooke came back in a minute or so later and walked up to the couch to stand in front of them.

“Um, that’s my seat,” Brooke said, giving them an annoyed look.

“I think you should go,” Warren said back, putting out his left arm to try to move her out of the way of the screen.

“This isn’t your house, Warren. You can’t make me leave,” Brooke whined at him., causing Max to try to make eye contact with Warren so she could see what was going on.

“Why does she need to leave, War-War Binks,” The purple haired girl questioned, giving a quick glare at Brooke.

“She told Alyssa that she was too fat and ugly for me to ever be interested in her,” Warren responded, before looking back at Max with a frown, “and please don’t compare me to the single most annoying character in Star Wars history.”

“Warren’s right,” Max said, giving the girl a dirty look, “you are definitely not welcome here. We have a zero bitches policy.”

“Then what are you doing here,” Brooke asked, spinning around to glare at her and crossing her arms over her chest.

“What. the. fuck,” Chloe started dangerously, “did you just call my girlfriend a bitch?”

“She insinuated I was one first,” Brooke whined, glaring at the couple on the recliner. Her eyes widened in horror when Chloe lowered the footrest and stalked her way over to her.

“Get the fuck out of my house,” Chloe growled, pointing in the general direction of the front door. She cracked her knuckles when the other girl shook her head, and said she wasn’t leaving without Warren. Chloe growled again and grabbed the girl by her arm and started dragging her towards the door. Rachel got up from her spot on the couch and started helping Chloe to drag the girl out.

“You are not ever welcome back,” The blond slurred, already pretty drunk for the day. She reached past the two of them and opened the door for Chloe, who shoved the girl out the front door and slammed it shut before locking it. They looked to one another and rolled their eyes before heading back to finish the movie. They each resumed their previous seats, Chloe making note internally that Kate and Justin had grabbed a blanket from somewhere and were sharing it. _Go Kate… make ya move!_ After Elf ended, they decided to stretch a little bit before deciding on the next one.

“Oh my god, I totally forgot,” Dana shouted out, “Guess who I heard is pregnant?”

“Who told you I was pregnant,” Max asked in horror, feeling her face turn pale. _How the hell did this get out. I know my friends wouldn’t have told anyone. Maybe Dr. Dumbass spread it around after we left?_

“Wait, what,” Dana asked, confusion coming through plain in her voice. “Max… are you saying you’re… pregnant?”

“Oh god,” Max said, putting her head in her hands, completely embarrassed. Dana slowly made her way over to where Max was sitting and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I really thought you meant me… Yes. I am pregnant.”

“Is it from,” Dana cut off for a moment before clearing her throat. “I mean, I’m guessing its from… y’know, what happened.”

“yeah… one of those fuckers got me pregnant,” Max said as her face turned pink in embarrassment. _Way to totally misread a situation, time girl._ “if you weren’t talking about me, who were you talking about?”

“I was talking about Victoria Chase,” Dana clarified for her. “Someone saw her walk out of the girls bathroom carrying a pregnancy test and sobbing.”

“Damn,” Kate said in surprise, “At least now she won’t be able to say anything negative about Max when yours comes out.”

“yeah, I guess Juliet said that later she could hear her talking on her phone to her Dad,” Dana told them with a secret smile. Max secretly thought the reporter had probably used a cup to listen at the girl’s door.

“Did she say who the father was,” Max asked Dana.

“No, apparently she told her dad that she’s a virgin,” Dana giggled, “Please, she’s slept with 4 guys that I know of… including Juliet’s ex-boyfriend.”

“She’s claiming virgin birth,” Kate asked in shock, “Has anyone told her that Mary already used that excuse?”

“Meowwww, Kate, “ Dana said, raising her hand in a claw position while everyone else started giggling, “I dare you to say that to her face next time you see her.”

“mmm, maybe not,” Kate said as she lifted a bottle of beer to her lips and took a long drink. “Even though I despise her, I wouldn’t want to say something that stressed her out and caused her to miscarry. Her baby hasn’t done anything wrong, yet.”

“So,” Alyssa asked quietly, “do you know what you’re going to do?”

“I plan on carrying the baby to term,” Max said with a nod as she continued to explain, “then I may give it up for adoption.”

“Wow,” Stella said in surprise. “I don’t think I would be able to do it. I think if I had been raped, I would have aborted it.”

“I know it’s a… different decision that most may make, but I just,” Max paused briefly and laid a hand softly over her abdomen before continuing, “couldn’t bring myself to abort it.”

After that conversation, they all settled back into their spots to watch Christmas Vacation. Warren claiming that it was his favorite Christmas movie to watch every year. Alyssa was giggling as the boy said some of the most iconic lines along with the film. He kept glancing over at her and sharing a grin as she giggled at his antics.

“and why is the carpet all wet, Todd,” Max asked, fake glaring at Warren a bit later, which caused him to laugh.

“I don’t knooooow, Margo,” He responded snootily. The two giggled briefly, while their friends rolled their eyes at them in exacerbation. Chloe whispering dorks at them under her breath, which only Max heard, causing the freckled girl to lightly elbow her girlfriend in the side.

Later, while Max was on her phone ordering Chinese to be delivered, the room got into an argument about the next movie to watch. Warren claiming that they needed watch the best of the Christmas movies, Die Hard, and Rachel arguing with him that it wasn’t a Christmas movie just because it was set at Christmas. Alyssa, Stella and Justin were stating that it was definitely not a Christmas movie, while Max, Chloe, Dana and Trevor argued that it was. Kate abstained from voting since she had never seen the movie. The room decided either way they were going to watch it because they couldn’t let Kate go any longer without seeing it. The doorbell rang a while over and Max made her way to the door, stopping by her purse to put most of the cash everyone had given her for their parts of dinner, leaving some out for a tip. She opened the door and saw the delivery driver and gave a smile, grabbing the bags from him and making her way into the kitchen and grabbed a stack of paper plates. They had spread out quite a large feast for themselves, and everyone was taking a little bit of everything. Kate was watching the movies with eyes widened in wonder.

“Wow,” she stated pretty early on in the movie, “Bruce Willis was pretty hot back in the day.”

“Girl,” Rachel said with a tipsy giggle from across the room, “I’d still probably fuck him.”

Max and Chloe shared a look before rolling their eyes and sharing a smile. Max looked back over at the loveseat and saw that Kate was trying to help teach Justin how to use his chopsticks. He was failing spectacularly, but Max had a suspicion that he was faking for Kate, as she had thought she had seen him using chopsticks at one of the previous parties. Kate gasped loudly when Hans Gruber fell from the building at the end of the movie. By the end of the movie, Max was starting to get tired. She told Chloe that she was going to head up for bed, and waved goodnight to her friends. Warren had said he should probably head back for Blackwell and left with Alyssa and Stella. As Chloe made her way up the stairs behind Max, she saw that Rachel and Kate were getting shot glasses for Dana, Trevor and Justin, while they whispered back and forth about something.

Rachel and Kate led everyone else down to the basement after grabbing their glasses. They could turn on some music and dance or play pool. Rachel had wound up texting Frank and inviting him to come over and play pool and drink with him. She had given him a key the first week they moved in and told him that he could just come on in when he got there. Rachel was sitting on one of the barstools watching Kate and Dana wipe the floor with Trevor and Justin at pool, when she heard the clacking of dog toenails on the stairs to the basement. He walked over and gave her a lick and started sniffing his way around the basement, searching out his little furry friends. They had all been surprised when Pompidou had taken a liking to the kittens, letting them chase after him, and bite at his floppy ears.

“Aw, sorry pup,” Rachel told him in a baby voice, “They’re upstairs with their mommas.”

“Do you have to talk to him like a baby,” Frank questioned as he finally got to the bottom stair. “He’s a manly man, not a baby.”

Rachel rolled her eyes and handed her lover a shot of whisky. The two of them did a couple of shots before the blond grabbed his hand and pulled him over by the radio and started dancing with him. Rachel turned to see what her friends were up to and saw they had moved over to the bar and pulled out a bong. She watched Kate bring it up to her mouth and light up, taking a long inhale and holding her breath as she passed the bong over to Justin. She released a large cloud of smoke and let out a soft giggle as she started to get the buzz from it. Eventually, Dana dragged Trevor out to dance next to Rachel and Frank, leaving Justin and Kate alone at the bar until the blond boy held a hand out to her and asked her to come dance with him. She looked at him in surprise before she turned to the bar, grabbed the bottle of vodka and followed after him. She winked at him before taking a few pulls from the bottle and passed it off to Rachel who was making grabby hands next to her.

She moved really close to him and wrapped her arms up over his neck, pressing their lower bodies together. She could feel him twitch against her hip, and it caused a slight bubble of arousal to grow in her stomach. She felt the music thrumming through her veins and moved her head from side to side as their hips continued to move together. She eventually changed her position and turned to press her back to his chest and felt him twich against her lower back. Justin’s hands slid down to grab her hips, moving his against her in time with the music. She saw there was a bottle of Rumchada being passed around and made a grab for it. She took a couple of gulps from it, before turning back around. She put some of it in her mouth and passed it off to Dana before she turned her attention back to Justin and pulled him down to press her lips against his, passing the shot from her mouth to his. She felt him swallow the drink before he grabbed the side of her face and pulled on her chin lightly so he could taste more of the drink.

“Mmm. Kinda tastes like oatmeal cookies,” He told her and pressed their lips back together. The two of them continued dancing, taking shots, and kissing for the next hour and a half. The were pressing their hips together still, and Kate could feel that he was fully aroused. She looked around and saw that the other two couples were still pressing together, Rachel had sat on the pool table and had her legs wrapped around Frank’s hips and was pulling him against her so they could thrust together. She guessed the two of them would probably be making their way up to Rachel’s room shortly, as she knew Frank wouldn’t sleep with the girl in front of anyone. Dana had pushed Trevor down onto couch and was straddling his hips while they practically mauled one another. _I want that. I want to have sex with Justin. I want to be in control of my own sex life. First my family was in charge of it, then Jefferson and Prescock._ She felt her head buzzing, and then Justin was kissing at her neck, trailing his hands down to hold at her waist. Kate threw her head back and moaned, grabbing for his hand.

“C’mon,” Kate slurred out, and started leading him up the basement stairs, stopping to grab the bottle of Rumchada that someone had placed back on the bar. The two of them stumbled their way across the living room, kissing wildly. She was working at his belt as the two of them made their way up to the second floor. They stopped for a couple of minutes outside of her bedroom door. Kate was running her fingers through his blond mane. She was reaching blindly behind her, trying to grasp her doorknob, and the two of them stumbled back through the door and made their way to her bed. She pushed him down onto her bed for a minute before she froze and realized she didn’t have any condoms.

“b’right back,” She slurred out, and hurried her way into Rachel’s bedroom next door, walking to her bedside drawer and pulling it open. The first thing she saw when she opened the drawer was a large vibrator that the girl had bought. She smirked as she saw how huge it was, but was glad she had Rachel, as the girl had taken her to get her own, much smaller, item. She had also taken to asking the girl for pointers on sex, blowjobs and kissing. She shook her head briefly, head swimming as she saw the girl had 8 condoms left and pulled half of the pack off before making her way to back to her room. She saw that Justin was still sitting on her bed, giving her a nervous look.

“are you sure you want me in your room,” he slurred, even though he sounded worried. “I can sleep on the couch or somethin.”

“I want you n’ here,” She said, opening the bottle of the delicious drink, and taking a sip before pouring some in his mouth. After he swallowed, she climbed onto the bed with him and pushed him to rest against her headboard before she straddled his lap and moved to suck his tongue into her mouth. She heard him gasp in pleasure, and internally smiled. She trailed her hands down his chest and pressed her hand against the stiff appendage in his pants.

“Shit, Kate,” He said, pulling away from her kiss to get some breaths in. “You’re so damn hot. You really are, but are you sure you wanna d’ this? I remember you used to talk about abstinence.”

“Mmm, yeah,” Kate said, eyeing him hungrily before grinding her hips down against his erection, “I’ve changed a bit since the beginning of the year.”

“Shit,” Justin groaned, “just, maybe take it slow. I actually haven’t done this before.”

“Really,” Kate asked, pulling away in surprise, “that’s really sexy to me.”

**Heterosexual sex scene below, skip if you don’t enjoy m/f scenes**

Kate grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it off over his head, accidentally knocking his glasses askew. She separated them from his shirt and tossed the shirt on the floor behind her, gently setting his glasses on the bedside table next to her. She looked at his naked torso and felt a jolt of pleasure thrum through her core. She gently trailed her fingers through the course hair going from his navel and disappearing into his jeans. She paused as she reached his belt, unclasping it and followed by undoing his button and lowering his zipper. Kate tugged at his pants, pulling them and his boxers down his hips and revealing his straining member, thighs, then calves. She threw his jeans in the direction she had thrown his shirt and stared down at him.

She reached her hand forward and grasped at his length, sliding her hand from his base, and back up towards the tip. She was surprised to find that the skin felt velvety across her palm. She pumped her hand a couple of more times before swiping her finger over the tip of his prick. She watched as he started dribbling little bits of precum from his slit. She pulled back from him briefly, pulling her own shirt over her head and revealing her bra. Then she stood from his lap and slid the tight jeans she had been wearing down her hips. She bit her lip and looked into Justin’s lust blown eyes.

“Can I try sucking your dick,” she asked him, grinning wickedly as his head nodded quickly up and down, while his eyes traveled to stair at her covered breasts. She moved back to straddling him a bit and grabbed his hands, placing them upon her breasts and encouraging him to squeeze them. She moved forward and pressed their lips together again, kissing him for a bit before pulling back and grabbing at his legs and pushing at his chest to try and get him to lay completely on the bed. She sat back on his thighs and reached behind her to unhook her bra and tossed it to the floor. After that she slid her panties down her thighs, lifting one leg, then the other to kick them off the bottom of her feet. She leaned back towards him, and pulled his earlobe into her mouth, giving it a light nip before moving down to kiss her way down his neck. She paused at his Adams apple, sucking, nipping and licking at it lightly, while Justin moaned lightly under her. She trailed kisses down his abdomen, reaching up to twist his nipples as she trailed her tongue through his happy trail.

She glanced up to look into his eyes as she became level with his stiff length, head turning purple with as he waited for release. She groaned as she saw the look in her eyes, telling her that he wanted her badly. She kept eye contact as she swiped her tongue tantalizingly across his tip. His eyes shuttered closed as he moaned. Kate paused as the taste of him registered on her tongue, salty and bitter. She swiped her tongue fully across the head this time, before wrapping her mouth around his head and sucking hard. She heard him mumble a curse before his hands traveled to brush through her hair. She started slowly inching her way down his shaft until she felt him start to touch the back of her throat. She pulled back, hollowing out her cheeks swirling her tongue around his tip as she pumped her hand up and down a couple of times before lowering her head back down to continue sucking him. She started bobbing her head up and down, using her hand to pump the flesh when she couldn’t move her head any further down. _I will get used to it someday._ She felt Justin tugging at her hair moments later warning her that he was really close.

She pulled off of him and moved back up his body to press their lips together, smirking she wondered if he noticed he could taste himself. He wrapped an arm around her waist and flipped her over to hover over her. He asked her if he was okay to touch her before getting approval to slide his hands clumsily to her warmth and pressed a finger against her bud. He could feel that there was wetness slipping out of her and felt himself grow even harder. He moved down her body and started licking at her. Kate threw her head back and pressed herself against his face. _Shit. Shit. Shit. That’s better than the vibrator._ She could feel him sucking, kissing, and licking against her clit as he slowly inserted his finger. She felt him give a slight hum and gave a high-pitched moan at the feeling that caused to flow through her. The more he did, the closer she got to her own orgasm. She had taken a pillow and pressed it over her face, so her roommates wouldn’t hear her. Although, she was unsure if it was just the one other couple upstairs, or if the others had come up from the basement. She could grabbed his hair and tugged pulling him up to connect their mouths and moaning.

“I want you inside of me,” She moaned, as she grabbed a condom off of her table and tore it open, helping him to slide it over his girth, noting that he was only a bit bigger than the toy she had been playing with for the last couple of weeks. She was glad she had gotten to use that, as she thought it would make this a lot more pleasurable than it could have been.

“Are you positive,” He slurred, and groaned as her hand pushed the condom down his shaft. Kate nodded and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him down to kiss him. She gave him a signal to hang on for a moment and reached into her table to pull out her toy. Telling him it was for outer stimulation. Justin shrugged and bent down to kiss her, reaching a hand between them to guide himself to her opening. Her eyes widened as she felt him slide inside of her. She felt a slight burn from it due to his size, but it really wasn’t so bad. Justin slowly started shifting his hips, pushing and pulling slowly out of her to try and help her adjust to his size. Kate could feel that it was starting to feel good, and started meeting him thrust for thrust, which started speeding up gradually. The two of them were panting and moaning against each other’s mouths. Kate could feel that she was starting to get close to an orgasm, and reached blindly for her vibrator, spinning the end to turn it on, and sliding it through their bodies to rub against herself. Kate suddenly felt her orgasm hit her, and moaned out loudly and drunkenly calling Justin’s name, inner walls closing around him and causing his thrusts to become irregular before he froze as he came.

**End of sex scene**

He collapsed upon her briefly as they each caught their breaths, pressing soft kisses to one another’s lips. He eventually pulled off of her and rolled off to the side, pinching the tip of the condom, pulling it off, and tying it before tossing it to the floor. He would pick it up in the morning. He was still too drunk to try stumbling around for a garbage bin. Kate rolled over onto her side and snuggled up next to him, pressing a kiss to his lips again.

“That was a fun night,” She whispered to him, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes. Justin reached down to pull the blankets up over their naked forms and pressed another kiss to her lips. The two of them started drifting off before moans started coming from one of the other rooms around them.

“Think that’s Rachel and Frank or Dana and Trevor,” She asked him before giggling.

“Pfft, who knows. Could be both,” he responded sleepily. Kate wondered as her eyes slid shut for the night if Rachel had noticed her missing condoms, or if she had been too wasted.

Chloe and Max were up bright and early the next day, having gone to bed so early the night before. Max had slept clear through the night, while Chloe had woken up at some point in the evening with moaning coming from one of the bedrooms. She had rolled over and grabbed a pair of ear plugs she had purchased after the first time she heard Rachel and Frank doin’ the dead. The two of them sat on the couch and started watching some TV, while eating large bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The two of them had the morning mostly to themselves until around 11 o’clock. Max smiled at her girlfriend before the smile turned mischievous as she heard a moan come from upstairs.

“Jeez, and Rachel said we were loud,” Max laughed, “I can hear them all the way down here.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said distractedly as she searched through their available programming, “They were at it last night, too. I was surprised you didn’t wake up for ear plugs like I did.”

“They didn’t seem to hear us this morning, at least,” Max said, running her fingers down Chloe’s arm seductively before pressing a kiss against her ear.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I tried to stay extra quiet,” Chloe mumbled against her ear, “I think we probably had guests last night, and didn’t want to wake them up.”

“How thoughtful of you,” Max told her sarcastically before giving a cheeky smile to her. Max turned the volume up a bit at a particularly loud groan and rolled her eyes. She heard one of the doors upstairs open, followed by the sound of clicking nails down the stairs. She looked over and saw Pompidou running into the ears with his ears flapping up and down. He jumped up onto the couch next to the couple and started sniffing at the kittens in their laps. He turned around in a circle 3 times before laying down and licking Jinx’s head. She could hear Dana asking someone at the top of the stairs where the washing machine was, so she could wash the bedding she and Trevor had used the night before. Then there were several footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Pompidou! Let’s go outside pupper,” Rachel said, clapping her hands as she entered the living room. The dog yipped and hopped up, running for the door. Max looked at Rachel in confusion, as she could still hear someone having sex upstairs. Then Dana walked in the room and waved at Max as she carried an armload of bedding towards the basement. Her eyes widened as she realized that it must be coming from Kate’s room. _Wait, what? My little Katie is sleeping with someone?_ Max looked over and saw the confusion on Chloe’s face and waited for it to dawn on her girlfriend, too. She smirked as she saw when it finally clicked, and her blue haired lover picked up the remote and muted the TV. The sounds from upstairs made their way down the stairs, and Chloe’s mouth dropped slightly in surprise. Chloe turned the TV volume back up as the moans grew in volume. Rachel came back in a few minutes later with Pompidou, who returned to his spot on the couch.

“so,” Chloe said somewhat awkwardly, “do we know who Katie’s sleeping with?”

“I would assume it was Justin,” Rachel told them, sitting on the opposite side of Pompidou and scratching him behind the ears. “They were all over each other last night before they disappeared. I think the little minx stole my condoms.”

Chloe and Max laughed along with her, happy for their friend. Max couldn’t wait to tease her about her volume. _Payback is a bitch!_ Trevor practically ran down the stairs as the volume upstairs reached its crescendo. His hair was wet from a shower he had recently taken after being so rudely awoken in the morning. When he walked into the living room and saw the cereal bowls sitting on the coffee table, he eyed them hungrily.

“Can I steal a bowl of cereal,” He pleaded with wide eyes, causing all three of the roommates to snort.

“Of course,” Rachel told him, waving him off to the kitchen. “you should probably grab one for your girlfriend, too.”

Dana came up the stairs from the basement with a frustrated look on her face, explaining that she had had some difficulty figuring out their washing machine. She eagerly took the bowl of cereal from her boyfriend as he returned, shoving a large bite into her mouth and crunching down on it. A door upstairs opened, and there were footsteps padding their way into the bathroom. Half an hour later they heard the door open again, and feet pad back to the bedroom they had come from. In ten minutes the two teens were making their way down the stairs, Kate blushing at the whistles and catcalls coming from her friends. They made their way to the kitchen and Kate pulled down bowls for them to have cereal and showed him the selections. He opted to have Reese’s Peanut butter Puff cereal, while Kate had the ever popular cinnamon toast crunch. They made their way back to the living room and sat on the floor in front of the coffee table and dug into their breakfasts.

“Wow,” Max said, looking at Kate with a smirk, “You two sure are loud in the morning. I may need to invest in earplugs.”

Kate turned pink, and gave a soft glare to Max, remember the words she had sent the girl after her first night with Chloe. She flipped everyone off as they all burst out into sniggers. They eventually wound up watching Shameless because the first three seasons were on demand. The group of friends sat there laughing together as they watched the first episode. Around 2 o’clock the Dana, Trevor and Justin got ready to leave. The roommates running to the tree to grab the presents for their friends, as they doubted they would see them again before the actual holiday with orders not to open them until Christmas. Before leaving the friends were invited over for a New Year's Eve Party if they were able to. At the door Justin and Kate shared a long goodbye kiss, promising to see each other soon.

Ryan and Vanessa were planning on coming to town for Christmas and were going to be coming down on the 23rd and would be staying with them until the morning of the 27th. Rachel was going to go to her parent’s house on Christmas morning, but didn’t plan on staying too long. Kate would be spending the whole break at their house, as she was still unwilling to step foot into her mother’s home. She had snuck up and met her 16-year-old sister at the house when the girl had texted her that their mom had gone to help set up for the church program. She had given her the presents she had purchased for her, Lynn and their father. Joyce and David were going to be coming over Christmas Day as well and had already dropped off the gifts they had purchased.

The next couple of days passed by quickly, and before Max knew it, she was welcoming her parents into their home. After Ryan carried their stuff up to the guest bedroom, he came back down and they decided to play some boardgames. Max went to the boardgame shelf they had recently purchased and pulled out Betrayal at House on the Hill and excitedly made her way back to the kitchen table. She started explaining the directions, and the 6 of them picked their Characters. Max playing as the little girl Missy, Chloe grabbing the purple Token and playing as Heather Granville, Rachel stealing Madame Zostra and pulling a strange accent when introducing her character, Kate pulled the green tab and played as Brandon, Vanessa played as father Rhinehardt and Ryan playing as the red character. The group enjoyed playing the game, growing the map one room at a time, and holding their breaths every time they rolled for a haunt. Eventually they didn’t roll enough dice to avoid the haunt and opened the guide to see that Ryan was the one who was now the enemy. Both Vanessa and Kate had already somehow died, so it was up to Max, Rachel and Chloe to beat him. As he walked up to the guest bedroom so the girls could strategize, he released a fake cackle.

The girls giggled and rolled their eyes as they worked on their strategy. Chloe walking over to the stairs when they were done strategizing and yelling up the stairs that they were ready. In this scenario, Ryan was playing a witch that had cats as familiars and was shrinking them down so the cats could eat them to get rid of the characters. Unfortunately, the girls ended up losing, while Ryan pretended to be evil across the table from them.

After they finished that game, they played a few rounds of Fluxx, they had zombie fluxx, pirate fluxx and star fluxx. They were laughing as the rules of the game kept changing, sometimes forcing people to talk with strange accents for their turns. Somehow Max kept winning each hand, and Chloe was secretly convinced the girl was rewinding time to win. Max rolled her eyes and elbowed her lightly in the stomach when her girlfriend whispered the accusation into her ear. Everyone went to bed after the last game of fluxx, the parent’s tired from their trip, Max because of her pregnancy, and the other girls had been up late the night before wrapping last minute gifts.

Christmas Day dawned bright and early. Max had woken up at 6 am with morning sickness and Chloe had followed her into the bathroom to rub her back. After she was done getting ill, the two girls made their way downstairs where Chloe started handmaking her mom’s recipe for cinnamon rolls. Max sat down at the table sipping at a cup of tea to try and settle her stomach and nibbling at a gingerbread man. Christmas Eve had been spent rolling out all different kinds of cookies and Max was happy for that, as she hoped the ginger would help settle her stomach.

The two of them were surprised to see Rachel and Kate beat Max’s parents down the stairs. Rachel gave Kate a quick smirk and ran to the tree and pulled out a small present slapping it down in front of her on the kitchen table, suggesting she open it before Max’s parents make it down. Max looked up to see Kate shooting Rachel a suspicious glance before lifting the package and giving it a shake. She noted that it didn’t sound breakable, which caused Rachel to break out into peals of laughter and mutter about definitely not wanting this item to break. Kate gave her one last look before ripping off the paper, turning bright pink as she saw a large box of condoms.

“Ha…ha Rachel,” the girl said while Max and Chloe roared with laughter, “At least these will come in handy when I see Justin again.

Kate hurried from the kitchen, hiding the box behind her back as she passed Max’s parents on the stairs. When she returned from putting her box in her bedside drawer, Chloe was cutting out squares of cinnamon rolls and placing them on plates when the doorbell rang. Max went to answer it, hugging Joyce and waving at David as they made their way into the house. David was carrying in a large turkey in a roaster, and quickly set it on the counter before making his way back out to the car to get the sides Joyce had prepared that just needed to be thrown into the oven. After eating the cinnamon rolls, the family made their way into the living room to open presents. They had separated their gifts into different piles and taken turns going around the room opening them. Max and Chloe had been excited when they opened a shared gift from Vanessa, which had turned out to be a handmade scrapbook with pictures of them growing up together. In the back of the book they found an envelope containing vouchers for Delta Airlines.

“The two of you have been through a lot, so I want you to take a vacation to try and relax,” Vanessa told her with a kind smile.

“Thank you,” Chloe said excitedly and got up to hug them. “This’ll be nice. Maybe we’ll take a trip in the spring, around spring break.”

Rachel left the house after the presents were finished being unwrapped and headed to her parents. Joyce and Ryan had headed into the kitchen to work on cooking the Christmas feast. After a couple of hours, delicious smells were permeating the air, causing Chloe’s mouth to start watering. Max was sitting on Chloe’s lap, twirling a new cat toy they had gotten through the air and giggling while Jinx and Clover wiggled their butts to pounce on it. Around 11:30 Kate had received a phone call from her mother on her dad’s phone asking her if she was really going to ditch the family on Christmas.

“Yeah,” Kate told her venomously, “I didn’t feel like being called a whore on Christmas.”

“You said it this time,” Mrs. Marsh responded harshly. “everyone’s been asking where you are.”

“Have you tried telling them that I’ve been avoiding you because you blamed me for being a victim of rape,” Kate questioned her sarcastically, “or are you afraid that they’ll realize what a ginormous cunt you are and start avoiding you as well?”

“Kate,” the woman yelled out scandalized, “You were raised better than to use language like that.”

“Hmm, well apparently I wasn’t,” Kate snapped before hanging up from the call. The purple haired girl glanced over to Vanessa and saw her friend’s mother giving her a surprised look. “Sorry, she’s been horrible lately.”

“Sounds like it,” Vanessa said, giving her a sad look, “Anyone who would blame a rape victim for their attack is definitely a ginormous cunt.”

The rest of the day passed by way less eventfully. They all stuffed themselves full of turkey, ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and various cookies. Max was hoping that she didn’t wind up getting sick from this like she did on Thanksgiving. Rachel returned in the late afternoon and joined them in the living room after grabbing a plate of leftovers. She had explained that the food at her house had been dried out and overcooked. Joyce and David left around 5, heading home with boxes of leftovers for them to enjoy at home. Joyce having hugged all of the girls, and David giving awkward nods and waves.

After Ryan and Vanessa went up to bed, the four roommates stayed up planning for their upcoming New Year’s Eve party. Max was writing up the shopping list, making sure to add a bottle of sparkling grape juice for herself, so she could cheer in the new year with her friends. They made up a guest list and started inviting people through Facebook. Dana had responded immediately, messaging them that she loved when they had parties at their house. Rachel had immediately texted Frank, asking him to pick up the party supplies. By the time they finished their party plans, Max was yawning into her hand. Chloe practically had to drag her up the stairs to go to bed. The two of them snuggled up together and fell into a deep and comfortable sleep.

AN: Just a thing about Kate. I decided to have her sleep with Justin because I wanted to show the way that rape can affect different people. There are a lot of people who become more sexually reserved, and then there are some who become hypersexualized. This happens with victims of molestation as well. (I know this from experience. After I was molested, I was very sexually reserved. My best friend, and one of my cousins became hypersexual from their experiences) I wanted to show her thinking in that this is how she will control her own sex life by choosing to explore it with Justin.


	15. Chapter 15

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

AN: There is a smut scene in this chapter between Chloe and Max, as well as the Trial… so this chapter has mentions of rape, but nothing graphic.

* * *

The following Tuesday, the four roommates spent the whole morning getting their house ready for the New Year’s Eve Party. They had recruited some help from Dana, Trevor, and Justin, who had happily agreed to help them for some party favors. The trio of friends and Frank had come over the night before with what had seemed like the whole liquor store and a bag with a gram of pot. Trevor had pulled out a few of the buds and taken it into the kitchen to start making cannabutter for pot brownies. Later that night he had the butter prepared but decided to hold off on making the brownies until the next morning. The night had been going pretty well until Rachel and Frank got into a loud argument outside that sent the man speeding off into the darkness. The blond herself had stormed up to her room and slammed the door behind her and spent the rest of the evening hiding out in there.

Max and Chloe had woken up earlier than everyone else, as Max had had another bout of morning sickness. Chloe had sat behind her in the bathroom rubbing her back and pressing soft kisses to the back of her neck and muttering sweet assurances. After the two of them brushed their teeth they went down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed a quick breakfast before heading to the grocery store for snacks. They grabbed multiple bags of different kinds of chips, pretzels, dips, and Max had a bottle of barbeque sauce, a jar a grape jam and meatballs and cocktail weenies to make some beanie weenies and meatballs. Chloe made sure to grab a couple of bottles of sparkling grape juice so the two of them could look the part. They didn’t plan on telling the whole school about Max’s pregnancy, so they were going to hide it by drinking juice together. They also picked up ingredients for the brownies that Trevor was going to be working on and a tub of chocolate icing.

By the time they arrived back home an hour later, the rest of their friends were up and already decorating for the party. Max went into the kitchen and threw the bottle of barbeque sauce and half the jar of jelly with the bag of meatballs and weenies into the crockpot. Trevor joined them in the kitchen and started mixing together his brownie batter, he even made a pan for Max that was drug free. Chloe’s mouth was salivating as the sweet scent of the brownies reached her nose.

“Man, where’d you learn to bake,” Chloe asked him with a surprised grin.

“I don’t know if you knew this about me, but my maternal grandmother raised me,” Trevor told them with a sad look on his face, “There wasn’t really anyone else to raise me after my father went to prison for the beating my mother to death. Anyway, grandma has always been a great baker and taught me all she knows. I’ve changed up the recipe’s a bit to add weed, though… but don’t tell her, she would be mad.”

“Shit, man,” Chloe told him sadly, “That’s rough. I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay,” Trevor responded slowly, “I was so young that I have no memory of them. Grandma’s all I’ve ever known and hearing what an abusive asshole my father was taught me how not to treat women. What happened to Max and Kate makes me sick to my stomach. I would love to kick the shit out of those disgusting pricks.”

“You’d have to get in line. I call first dibs,” Chloe affirmed, throwing an arm over Max’s shoulder next to her, “Nobody hurts my girlfriend!”

“I don’t know what I’d do if someone hurt Dana,” Trevor declared with a clenched fist and a scowl on his face, which faded as the timer on the oven went off. The skater pulled put on oven mitts and pulled out the two pans of brownies, one pan silver, one pan green. The boy pulled a pack of toothpicks out of the cabinet in front of him and used it to check the doneness of the brownies. He smiled as he pulled the toothpicks out clean. He left them in their pans to cool, planning on icing them in another hour. The group continued setting up decorations, cleaning and setting up the snack and drinks tables.

Around 6 pm the doorbell rang for the first time that night. Rachel answered the door to come face to face with Juliet and an unknown boy that was introduced as Jimmy. The blond stood back to let them pass her and showed them into the living room where the rest of the group was already starting the fun. More and more people started showing up. Courtney and Taylor showed up with Warren, Alyssa, Daniel, and Stella, the five of them having squeezed into Warren’s car. Max had been surprised to see them show up together but had been told since they were all going the same place it had made sense to travel together. He had also pointed out that his car had seats for 6 since both the front and back seats were bench seating. Rachel had seen several of Trevor and Justin’s skater friends showing up and had given a couple of them a brief once over as she realized she was alone for the night. She jumped in excitement as she saw Steph Gingrich, running and giving her a hug. She hadn’t seen the girl since she had graduated the year previously and spent half an hour catching up with her.

“Hey Steph! How’s college going,” Rachel yelled over the music as she pulled back from her old stage manager.

“Good so far,” the girl responded, swiping a brown strand of hair behind her ear and grinning, “I’m mostly doing my gen eds, but am helping out in the theater. We’re putting on a production of The Tempest, actually. It has me reminiscing about our high school production.”

“I’ll never forget that night,” Rachel said, then snorted, “Chloe was so embarrassed, but she pulled it off.”

“Speaking of Chloe, where is she,” Steph asked with a smile, “I feel like I haven’t seen her in forever.”

“Last I saw she was downstairs playing pool with Max,” The blond said, leading her to the basement and going down with her. The rounded the corner to see the couple snuggling by the table as Justin and Kate rounded up the balls to get them ready for a new game, couple vs. couple. The two girls shared a loud hello and exchanged hugs, after which Chloe introduced Max to the other beanie wearing girl. Max had smiled shyly and reached a hand out to shake the other girl’s. Steph and Rachel decided to sit next to each other at the bar and watch the foursome play pool. Rachel had grabbed a bottle of beer for herself and passed one off to the other girl. She was unsurprised to see Chloe and Max winning against the other two, though Chloe definitely carried their team. After the girls wiped the floor with the couple, the group made their way upstairs to dance with the rest of their guests. As they walked up the stairs, they saw that more and more people had showed up. It looked like someone had alerted the football team, as several of them were spotted throughout the house.

The friends made their way through the crowd and over to the drink table. Rachel felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise as she saw that someone had started a donation to help pay for the alcohol and drugs at the party. The girls grabbed a few bottles of alcohol and started making their way back towards their hangout in the basement, rounding up friends for the VIP area and leading them down there. They turned on the radio and started dancing together and lining up shots on the bar. Max found herself guffawing as Warren took his first shot and made a disgusted face. Alyssa snickered at him as she tossed back her own shot without so much of a hint of a grimace. Chloe and Max were enjoying watching their friends get wilder and wilder. As midnight grew closer, the group made their way back up the stairs to countdown the New Year with everyone else, most of them stumbling tipsily.

As the seconds ticked down, people began growing closer and closer, chanting down from 10. As they reached midnight, the whole house seemed to explode with a unanimous shout of ‘Happy New Year.” Chloe had spent the ten seconds before staring deeply into Max’s eyes, waiting eagerly to share their first kiss of the year. Around them, couples shared their own kisses as they rang in the new year. Kate and Justin were kissing fiercely next to a gently kissing Dana and Trevor, the latter of which was gently caressing the woman’s face with his thumb. Warren had pressed an open-mouthed kiss to Alyssa’s lips, then backed up and held her hand while his face turned red. Chloe was surprised when she pulled back from Max and saw Courtney lip locked with Daniel. _What? That’s weird._ She turned her head a bit more and felt her eyes widen in shock as she viewed Rachel with her arms wrapped snuggly around Steph’s neck. The two girls had their eyes closed, and Steph’s hands were tangled in the blond mane of hair while soft moans drifted from her parted lips.

“Damn,” Max said in surprise next to her.

“Get her, Steph,” Chloe whispered to herself, remembering when the brunette had asked her years earlier if she and Rachel were an item.

“Do you wanna make this a private party,” Max asked, giving her sultry look, and gesturing towards the stairs to their bedroom.

“Hell yeah,” Chloe groaned, tugging at the girl’s hand, and dragging her towards the stairs. The two girls stopped at the top and rested against their closed bedroom door. Chloe moved kisses from Max’s mouth, and back towards her ear, tugging lightly at the fleshy lobe which caused Max to release a wonton moan. Chloe trailed her hands up underneath Max’s shirt to rest fully upon her breasts and squeezed. Max bucked her hips against her, trying to relieve a bit of the pressure building up in her groin. The blue haired girl moved a leg up between her girlfriends parted thighs and pressed her thigh against the girl’s center while moving her mouth down to suck and nip at the girl’s pulse point. Max’s nails scraped down her back, grabbed onto the lobes of her ass, and pulled her closer to her. The two of them heard a soft giggle coming from next to them and whipped their heads towards the sound. Justin was stood next to them with a smirk on his face while Kate giggled behind him.

“Happy New Years,” She gushed before grabbing at Justin’s hand and tugging him off to her bedroom. The door slammed shut behind them.

“We should probably make this more private,” Chloe muttered, pressing a soft kiss to Max’s pouting lips.

“Come on,” Max said, grabbing the girl’s arm and dragging her after her, “I need you to fuck me. I’m so fucking horny, it’s not even funny. These goddamn hormones are driving me crazy!”

Chloe didn’t speak but began kissing the girl again walking her back towards the bed while they slowly undressed. When Max felt the back of her knees hit the mattress, she separated from Chloe and climbed on, leaning back against the pillows and sliding a hand down to play with herself as she watched the other girl stalk towards her. Chloe climbed onto the other girl and immediately brought her mouth down to nibble at the girl’s neck, leaving several small hickeys upon the skin.

Chloe kissed her way down the girl’s torso, swirling her tongue into her navel and continuing down to swipe her tongue through Max’s tender folds. She could feel Max’s fingers tightening in her hair as she drew her closer and closer to her orgasm. She could tell the girl was about to go over the edge and pulled back, licking lightly at her lips, and sitting back on her heels while running her eyes up and down the girls flushed body.

“Why’d you stop,” Max asked with gasping breaths, chest heaving in anticipation. In response Chloe reached over to the nightstand and pulled out a toy and some lubricant. Inserting one end in Max and maneuvering to face her girlfriend, throwing one of her legs over the other girls, and moving forward to slide the other end into herself. The two of them raised their hips slightly from the bed and pulled back from one another. They started a quick pace separating and bringing their centers back together, releasing loud moans as the pleasure built up within them. They were so into each other that it took them a moment to realize there were moans coming from the room next to them.

“Should we try to out moan them,” Chloe asked through panting breath as she continued moving her hips at a rapid pace, the last thrust hitting her in a way that caused her to scream, “Fuck!”

“Yeah,” Max moaned, meeting her thrust for thrust, and starting to moan louder. Her head was arched back as she lowered a hand to rub at her clit, releasing a loud yell. Chloe trailed her own hand down over herself, her sounds increasing as she rushed over the threshold and her orgasm hit her full force. The two of them continued grinding themselves against each other lightly, as Max’s pleasured cries joined hers in her own orgasm.

The two lovers sat there panting and catching their breaths for a couple of minutes before Chloe gently pulled back, letting the toy fall out of her, and tugging it to lightly fall from Max, as well. She threw it to the floor, planning on cleaning it the next day, and moved around to pull Max into her arms, pressing a gentle kiss to the lightly glistening hairline. She snickered slightly as the voices the next room over reached a crescendo, loud moans crashing around them as the couple finished.

“I think we won,” She whispered, running her fingertips gently up and down Max’s arm. Max snorted and pressed a kiss to her lips after calling her a dork.

“Love you,” Max whispered, pressing several pecks against her lips, “You always make me feel so incredible.”

“Love you, too,” Chloe muttered, returning her kisses, and sliding a hand down to lightly pinch her girlfriends bottom, “And you are incredible… no one and nothing compares to you.”

The music was still blasting downstairs as the two of them fell asleep in a comfortable, post coital haze. They didn’t know when it had turned off, but when they woke up the next day everything was silent. Max could feel a pressure on her bladder and hurriedly grabbed a robe, tying it around her as she reached the door and racing to the bathroom. After using the restroom, she grabbed a towel and readied herself for a shower. She heard a soft knock at the door, and Chloe’s voice asking to join her. She smirked and opened the door, allowing the girl in who raced over to the toilet to release her bladder.

“Care to join me,” She asked, looking at the girl as she dropped her robe to the floor and stepped into the shower. Steam was already starting to build up in the bathroom, and Chloe was quickly under the water with her. Their hands traveled wetly down each other’s bodies, touching between thighs. Max had ended up kneeling on the floor of the shower, with Chloe’s leg thrown over her shoulder and her tongue stroking over the girl’s center, while she pumped fingers in and out of her. Max was so turned on that her fingers trailed down to rub at herself, reaching completion at the same time as her girlfriend.

After the shower, the two of them made their way back to their bedroom and got ready for the day. Max went to pull on one of her favorite pairs of jeans and froze as the zipper refused to close up. She glanced down at her jeans and grabbed the button, looking down to try and close it again. There was about an inch gap between the button and the closure. Max scratched her head in surprise and walked over to look in the mirror. She didn’t feel like she looked pregnant, but her jeans were definitely fitting wrong. She sighed and pulled out a pair of leggings and a black, long sleeved dress.

The couple made their way out of their room and froze as they saw Rachel and Steph coming out of the blond girl’s room. They both flushed a bit as they were caught, eyes widening in surprise.

“Oh, hey,” Chloe said, looking between the two of them and raising her eyebrow in question. “Have a good night?”

“Yeah,” Rachel said awkwardly, showing the brunette where the bathroom was, and grabbing her a towel. She returned back over to Max and Chloe, listening for the shower to start up before talking again, “I cheated on Frank… It was so fucking good. What am I gonna do?”

“Well,” Max said slowly, eyeing the girl up and down, “what do you think caused you to cheat?”

“I don’t really love him, anymore, “The blond muttered, looking at the ground in sadness. “Our fight the other night really put into perspective for me. I haven’t wanted to break up with him because I feel like he needs help, but he really scares me sometimes.”

“Did he try to hurt you,” Chloe asked her, shifting in spot angrily, ready to snap the blond man’s neck.

“No,” Rachel snorted, rolling her eyes, “but I recently walked into his trailer to him shooting up heroine. He’s been bugging me about doing it with him sometime, but I’ve been turning him down. I’ve been trying to get him to stop, but I could tell when he was here yesterday that he was high. It makes me sick that he’s trying to get me to join him. He knows what happened with my birth mom.”

“I’m so sorry,” Chloe said sadly, “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“I didn’t want to say anything,” Rachel said looking down, “I was trying to help him.”

“You can’t help someone at the expense of yourself,” Chloe told her seriously, placing a hand upon her shoulder, “I know you care about Frank, but if he’s trying to pressure you into heroine, it’s probably time to leave him.”

“Yeah,” Rachel agreed, asking the girls to follow her downstairs. A lot of people had left, but there were some stragglers still sleeping on the floor. The friends made their way into the kitchen and stood at the counter chatting.

“So,” Max asked, “Do you like Steph?”

“She’s great,” Rachel smiled, “but she is going back to college next week. I think last night was just a one-time thing for both of us.”

“Is there anyone else around here that you like,” Chloe asked the girl, causing her to shrug.

“I think I just want to be single for now,” the blond said, throwing her hair over her shoulder. Soft footsteps were heard coming down the stairs before Steph stepped into the kitchen. She smiled at the friends, pressed a kiss to Rachel’s cheeks and told her she had had a really nice time.

“I’ll text you if I’m ever in town again,” Steph told Rachel, who hurriedly nodded. The two shared another hug, and Steph waved goodbye to the other 2 girls and headed for the door. They all said their goodbyes and watched as the girl left. They started the cleanup process as the door snipped closed behind the brunette. A few of their friends had stayed over to help them clean, Dana and Trevor, Justin, Warren, Alyssa, Courtney, Taylor, Daniel, and Stella. Chloe figured that if they hadn’t all rode together the last four of them would have been long gone. Courtney and Taylor were laying on the ground groaning and holding their heads. Kate eventually joined them as they continued cleaning, shooing the stragglers that weren’t helping home so they could relax for the rest of the day. Max had taken pity on Courtney and Taylor and brought them Excedrin and set them up to the guest room to nap. A couple of hours later the house was mostly back to normal, and the friends had settled into the seats in the living room to watch some movies. Victoria’s former minions made their way down the stairs around 3 and joined the rest of the friends in the living room.

“Are you feeling better,” Daniel asked them in his soft Spanish accent. “You look much better.”

“I feel a lot better,” Courtney nodded cheerily, smiling at the chubby boy. The girl had been shocked the night before when she realized how nice and funny the boy was. After she had stopped following Victoria around like a puppy, she started to see people differently. Talking to people she had ignored before made her realize the type of people she had been missing out on.

The movie was interrupted by Rachel’s phone starting to ring. She looked down and saw the screen, frowning in annoyance. She stalked off to the kitchen, and the friends could hear her arguing with someone on the other line. Chloe had guessed it was probably Frank, and that was confirmed when the girl shouted for him to shut up and listen to her. Everyone froze awkwardly as they heard the girl telling him that she was done trying to fix him, and that he needed to work on himself. The conversation got quieter after that, and Rachel returned to the room with an angry frown and slightly puffy, red eyes.

“Sorry for all the yelling,” She muttered, as she sat on the floor with her back against the couch.

“Are you okay,” Chloe asked her, throwing a concerned look her way.

“I broke up with him,” She explained, “I just couldn’t take it anymore. I felt terrible, he was begging me to stay with him. I’ve been unhappy for a long time.”

“I’m sorry,” Kate said from behind her, rubbing her shoulder. “you deserve to be happy, too.”

“Thanks,” The blond said, leaning her head back against Kate’s leg and feeling the girl start stroking through her long blond locks.

A few weeks later it was Rachel’s turn to comfort Kate, while Chloe tried to help comfort Max. It was the first day of the Mark Jefferson trial and the four of them planned to go together. The night previously, Justin had stayed over to help comfort her in a different way than any of the other girls could offer her. She had woken up that morning with a pit of worry in her stomach but could see the marks on her neck and a couple on her chest from where Justin had left love bites. Every time she brushed against one, she felt a little reminder that she wasn’t ruined.

The group piled into Max’s car and made their way to the courthouse. Max had had to go shopping for new clothes, since she had the smallest of baby bumps. Chloe thought she looked adorable with her little bump but was worried for when the people at school would notice. The students at school were having a field day with Victoria’s pregnancy. Max almost felt bad for the girl, but then the blond would open her mouth and Max would remember that it was the girl’s own fault that she didn’t have her friends. She was still claiming that Max and Kate were lying and wouldn’t hear otherwise.

The four friends were some of the first to arrive at the courthouse. They waited for Max’s parents to arrive and were led to a seat on the prosecutor’s side. The room had slowly filled up as more and more people came into the room. Chloe felt her eyes keep drawing to the other side of the room behind the defendants. She recognized one of the guys sitting there next to a stiff blond woman but couldn’t place him. She could see the man looking back at them and glaring before he turned to look at the woman with him, who turned to look at them with narrowed eyes. She was glaring at them darkly as she trailed her eyes up and down their forms. Chloe saw her gaze freeze as her eyes landed on Max’s stomach. The woman turned quickly to the man and started whispering, pointing at Max, and looking back at her quickly. Chloe felt her blood freeze as the woman kept pointing back to her girlfriend and looking at her slightly rounded stomach.

“Do you know who those people over there are,” She asked Rachel with a concerned look upon her face. The blond leaned forward slightly, and her brow drew down in anger.

“The Prescott’s,” The girl growled, sending a glare at them. “What the hell are they doing here?”

“I don’t know, but they keep looking at Max,” Chloe whispered to her, sending a frosty glare back at the woman who was still staring at Max with a strange hunger in her eyes. Her glare intensified as she watched Victoria storm down the aisle, sneering at Max and Kate before taking a seat with Nathan’s parents and placing a hand gently upon her stomach.

The room was quiet as the judge walked into the room and the bailiff asked for everyone to rise. After being released to take a seat, they brought in Jefferson and then the jury. Chloe could hear Victoria huff as the prosecutors gave their opening statements. She looked over at the girl to glare and saw her giving doe eyes to the back of Jefferson’s head. Chloe didn’t understand the girl’s faith in the man. When the defense started talking, she saw the blond’s expression change to confusion. The defense didn’t deny the accusations but started trying to plead insanity. He was claiming that he had had a mental break, and would have done anything for his art.

When he was called up to the stand to talk is when Victoria started to believe what Max and Kate had been telling her. He had sat there looking proud as he described how a slightly unconscious model was the most open and honest. While he was talking the prosecutors had set up a projector, clicking through pictures of Max’s and Kate’s attacks. They shared the videos they had found online of the man hurting the girls, several of the juror’s had tears of anger and disgust in their eyes as they heard. When asked what he had done with the video’s he took, the man informed them that he had sold them online, and that there were sickos out there that would pay top dollar for those kinds of videos. Max had almost gotten sick as she hurt those words uttered from the man’s mouth. _How many people have seen me being hurt?_

The biggest shock for Victoria had come when the officer’s mentioned the fact that he was being charged with releasing other videos of unknowing lovers. She was shocked when she saw a video of herself pop up at the hotel room in San Francisco. In the video, you could see the man putting a powder into a drink. When asked what it was, he had told them it had been a tranquilizer to help keep her calm. She had been horrified when she realized he had drugged her and shared the video of them online. The pixie cut girl had tears streaming down her face as she realized that her love was delusional. He had played her the whole time and she felt humiliated. She knew then that she had been an idiot and felt horrible for the awful things she had said about the two girls across the hallway.

When Nathan was called up to testify, he had admitted to everything and told everyone how early on in the previous school year, the man had approached him to become his apprentice. He had admitted that they had planned meticulously who they were going to take next. He explained to them how it had been when they abducted Kate that the man talked him into the sexual assault. He told the jury that he had thrown up afterwards and started taking harsher drugs to try and ignore what he had done. He informed them of the binders they had prepared for their upcoming victims, mentioning that the man had wanted to get Victoria again, as well as her friends Taylor and Courtney. There had also been a couple of Freshman girls that had caught his eye, but he had thankfully been caught before he had abducted them.

The jury went to the jury room to debate after hearing the closing arguments. When they went back, Victoria had finally had enough and run out of the courtroom to hide in the bathroom. She had tears streaming down her cheeks and sat down on a toilet in horror, ripping off some toilet paper and using it to dab her eyes. She heard the door open and 2 sets of feet come walking into the bathroom. She held her breath as she heard the feet draw closer to her stall and slightly jumped as a soft knock sounded on the stall door. She sniffled and opened the door, shocked to see Max Caulfield and Kate Marsh standing on the other side, staring at her uneasily.

“A-are you okay,” Max asked, stuttering slightly and glancing at the ground, bracing for the impact of Victoria’s angry words. They didn’t come.

“I’m so sorry,” Victoria whispered to the two of them, voice cracking. “I didn’t want to believe it because… I thought he loved me and didn’t think he would really hurt anyone. I didn’t know I had been drugged, I thought I just got drunk on wine and have been blaming myself. I’ve been horrible to you.”

“I think I can forgive you,” Kate said, shifting slightly in discomfort, “it may take some time, but we should start by calling a truce.”

“I forgive you, too,” Max said, looking at the girl in worry, “is he… the father?”

Victoria nodded, breaking back down in to wracking sobs. Her shoulders shook as she covered her face in horror. She felt so embarrassed as the girls each grabbed an arm and took her over to the sink. She could hear the water turn on, and someone grabbing some paper towels. She heard Max whisper to her that she had put some water on the towels if she wanted to wash off her face.

“I’m sorry,” the blond muttered, “My hormones have been all over the place. It gets very frustrating. I’m not used to showing my emotions.”

“I get that,” Max said, then froze, eyes widening in horror. _Shit, why did I say that?_ She saw Victoria’s head shoot up to look at her, then narrow in on her stomach. Max felt her hands cover herself reflexively.

“Shit,” Victoria drew out, “You too?”

“Yeah,” Max said, shifting uncomfortable and readying her right hand to come up and rewind if Victoria said anything awful.

“I’m sorry,” the girl told her sincerely, “It actually does make me feel not as alone, though. I wish I had my friends around me like you do. If I hadn’t been so stubborn, maybe I would have. Yet another thing I’m jealous of you for.”

“Jealous? Of me,” Max questioned, confusion lacing her voice. “Why would you ever be jealous of me?”

“You’re not afraid to be who you are,” The girl told her, eyes firmly on the tops of her shoes, “I have so much fear of showing my true self. I used to get picked on in school for being a nerd, so when I moved here, I changed my image. I regret it now, because I’ve pushed everyone away and now, I have no one.”

“You should talk to Taylor and Courtney,” Kate told her, “They miss you, but said they won’t talk to you until you pull your head out of your ass. It seems like it’s out to me!”

“Really,” She questioned, looking up at Kate with puffy, red eyes.

“Yeah,” Max said, “and… I can try to help you, too. We are both pregnant, so we could be pregnancy buddies.”

“Why are you being so nice to me,” Victoria asked, looking up at them in awe.

“When we realized what had been done to you, it kind of made sense to us why you didn’t want to believe us,” Kate said, frowning slightly, “If I had gotten pregnant by Justin and it came out that he was a serial rapist, I wouldn’t want to believe it, either.”

An hour later, everyone made their way back into the courtroom as they were told that the jury had reached a verdict. Victoria joined them, sitting between Max and Kate as the foreman read out the results: Guilty. They told them that the sentencing hearing would be the next month before everyone was released. The group waited until the room had cleared out a bit more and finally made their way to the exit. They had almost reached it when Max felt a hand come down on her shoulder, long nails digging into her shoulder and wheeling her around. She saw crazed blue eyes and long blond hair before she felt a hand resting on her stomach. She felt Chloe swing around behind her and come barreling forward, shoving the woman back and yelling at her to keep her filthy Prescott hands off my girlfriend.

“She’s pregnant,” The woman whined, sneering at her as she stood, “and that could be my grandbaby. I have every right to touch my possible grandchild.”

“The fuck you do,” Rachel shouted, cutting between Chloe and Kate, and standing in front of Max, “That pervert of a son of yours forced himself upon my friend. Even if she were pregnant with his baby, it’s not any of your god damn business.”

“it is my business,” the woman screeched, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. “I demand a DNA test on the baby when it is born. If it’s Nathan’s we will take you to court for visitation rights.”

Max could see the flashes of several cameras go off around her as the reporters got a whiff that something may be going on. She could see security rushing forward, being followed by Rachel’s father who demanded to know what was going on. The blond straightened her shoulder and shook her head in fury.

“That blue haired bitch just shoved me,” the blond screeched, “I demand you arrest her.”

“That’s not true,” Kate shouted, as she went to stand next to Rachel in front of Max and Chloe, “You’re a lying bitch!”

“You,” the woman snarled, moving forward to grab at Kate, “You come to court looking like a whore with hickeys all over your neck. This is proof that you’re easy! You probably tricked Nathan into sleeping with you, then changed your mind midway through!”

“Uhhhh,” Victoria said, walking up next to the angry woman, “were you sleeping through the whole trial? The video clearly showed him forcing himself on them. Stop trying to stand up for him!”

“Victoria,” The woman whined, staring at her in shock, “Why did you turn against him?”

“I was wrong about him,” The girl stated angrily, “You should have realized how disgusting he is when you heard his testimony. Mr. Jefferson may have mentored him, but you can lead a horse to water and not make it drink. He chose to hurt people.”

“How dare you,” Sean cut in, glaring at the blond, “My son is no criminal! You’re just trying to drag him down with you because you’re pregnant with Jefferson’s baby!”

“Shut up,” Kate shouted, “How dare you spread that around? That is nobody’s business but hers!”

“Dad,” Rachel said, taking a breath and stepping over to James. “Mrs. Prescott came up and put her hands on Max. She dug her nails into her arm and spun her around and put her hands on her stomach. Chloe pushed her away from Max in defense.”

“I put my hand on her belly,” The woman defended, glaring at Rachel, “I told you that could be my grandchild. I have every right to touch it.”

“Actually,” James said, stepping in front of the blond and shooing everyone but security away, “You don’t have that right. Even if that was 100% your grandchild, you don’t have the right to it. It is up to Max what she would want to do.”

Max felt herself stoop behind Chloe, hiding her face in her jacket as the whispers of the reporters started rising up around them. She could see flashes pulsing around her as the photographers took picture after picture of the girls Mark Jefferson or his protégé had ‘knocked up.’ Victoria had her head buried in her hands in shame, and Max refused to remove her face from Chloe’s sweater. The blue haired girl wrapped an arm around her, as Kate and Rachel helped to get Victoria out of the area, trying to block photographers from being able to get a clear shot of her.


	16. Chapter 16

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

A/N: sorry for the delay. I’ve been feeling pretty crappy lately, and have been super fatigued and sleeping a lot.

* * *

“Ugh, this is bullshit,” Max growled, as she slapped the magazine down on the coffee table and buried her face within her hands as her shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. “This is none of their goddamn business and it’s all fucking lies!”

“I’m sorry, babe,” Chloe said, as she pulled the girl closer to her to wrap her in a tight hug. The blue haired girl pressed a soft kiss to the top of Max’s head before resting her chin over it, hands soothing up and down her back. “Maybe we could sue their asses.”

Max had been horrified when the day following the “2014 Mark Jefferson Trial” there had been multiple articles discussing the “Jefferson Girls”. Very few of the journalists had done the right thing and had only reported on the information received within the trial. Some had even refused to name the victims. Over the next couple of weeks, it seemed like every other journalist hadn’t cared to comment on the crime as much as the sensational story that there were two possible Mark Jefferson babies being carried. The article that Max had just been reading had been spotted a week after the trial in a gossip magazine while Rachel had been out buying cigarettes. The blond had become infuriated as she saw the cover of the magazine held a large close up of Max’s and Victoria’s faces from the showdown outside of the courtroom. When she had casually lifted it and flipped through to find the article, the blond had audibly growled. Inside the pages of the tabloid, there had been pictures of the rest of them. Each of “Jefferson’s Girls” had a page devoted to them, with speculation about how they had all been scorned lovers who had decided to get even by making up false claims of assault.

Victoria’s page mentioned that the pixie cut blond had been in a torrid affair with Jefferson for the whole school year. It confirmed that she was one of the girls carrying a Jefferson baby, and claimed that the girl was planning on selling the baby to the highest bidder. There were several _informants_ who were stating that they were trying to get into contact with the girl to take her baby. 

On Kate’s page, the reporter had apparently spoken with the Prescott’s, as they had a _confidential_ source stating that the girl had always been easy and had shown up to court looking as if _she had come from a brothel._ The article claimed that the information they had received confirmed that the former had been known for playing the field and having had a multitude of partners. This source had also told the journalist that the girl had agreed to do the pictures and the video’s and was only pretending to be unconscious. They were claiming that she was even more wild now, detailing how even since the trial her appearance had changed, noting the nose piercing and a photo some journalist had been able to snap of her in gym class showing off a large tattoo on her thigh of a cartoon the girl had designed by herself. The tattoo artist she went to had been surprised by the smaller girl’s drawing and had told her she had a great eye for new school designs. She was just grateful the magazine hadn’t caught wind of the tattoos she had added to her forearm or lower back over the last couple of months, as she had been wearing a jacket in class. Though, that was partially thanks to David Madsen, as he had caught the person peeping through the window with the camera and chased them off. The pink haired girl was already planning for her next tattoo and had plans to go and get a navel piercing over the weekend.

Max’s page had a large photo of her, with her hand placed protectively over her belly while Chloe shoved an unfocused blond person out of the shot. They had claimed that Max was in a relationship with both Mark Jefferson and Nathan Prescott and that when she had been caught, she concocted a plan to ruin them. The article was painting her as a gold digger who had jumped between their beds to try and get pregnant to blackmail them, so she and her ‘blue-haired harlot’ could live comfortably. The writer of the article was stating that they had been in contact with the Prescott family. Sean Prescott was reported as saying that initially they were going to try to sue for visitation, but with the awful actions at the courthouse, had decided to try to take full custody if the baby was their son’s.

When Rachel had stormed in the house 20 minutes earlier, face contorted in rage and body shaking, the roommates had been worried. She had slowed upon seeing her friends and grown a sad look on her face before handing the gossip magazine to the couple sitting together on the couch. Kate had been cuddled up on the loveseat with Justin. His arms had tightened around her worriedly when he had spotted the cover of the magazine. Max had shakily read the article out loud so the three of them could hear it together. She had had to stop reading multiple times to take calming breaths as the words spun through her mind.

“They can’t get away with this,” Rachel growled looking at the three girls in turn, “Nobody messes with my best friends!”

“I hate to say it,” Max said, finally pulling her head from her hands, “because I’ve been trying not to use my powers… but I think we’re going to need more money. There is a Mega Millions lottery drawing tomorrow. I could take a picture today at the gas station, and after the numbers are drawn, use the picture to come back and get a ticket with the winning numbers.”

“What powers,” Justin said, looking up from where he had been pressing soft kisses to Kate’s neck to try and comfort her.

“Oh… shit,” Max said, shifting awkwardly, and eyes widening, “I didn’t even think about the fact that you didn’t know. I uh… canrewindtime.”

“Huh,” the blond questioned, confusion lacing as voice as he and Kate had shared a bowl after getting back from school an hour previously. “Could you slow that down?”

“Long story short, she can rewind time,” Kate said, looking at him, “That’s how she won the money in the casino that we used for the car and the house. She can also travel back through pictures and her journals.”

“That’s dope, Max,” Justin said, looking at her with awe, “I wish I could do that.”

“Yeah, it was pretty crazy the first time it happened,” Max agreed, not expanding any further. “I may as well head off to the gas station to take my selfie.”

“Would you mind if we came with and stopped at a store,” Kate asked, “we needed to pick up a couple of things.”

“Sure,” Max said as she and Chloe stood from the couch and grabbed her bag. Max flipped open the top to make sure she had plenty of film in her camera. “did you need anything else, Rach?”

“Nah,” she said distractedly, still glowering at the tabloid laid innocently on the table, “I’m good. Listen, while you’re gone, I’m going to call my dad and see if he has any advice for this type of thing.”

“Good idea,” Chloe told her, wrapping an arm around Max’s waist after they each donned their coats, and leading her out towards the car. “do you want me to drive? Your eyes are still a bit puffy.”

“Thanks,” Max said, handing her the car keys and climbing into the passenger seat and pulling over her seatbelt. “what were you needing from the grocery store? If it’s not something that is going to melt, do you mind if we go there first?”

“No problem,” Kate said, as she buckled herself in. “We wanted to get some snacks and some condoms. The gas station sells both, but only like a 5 pack and that wouldn’t last us very long.”

“Ah, gotcha,” Chloe said as she waited for the garage door to finish opening before slowly back down the driveway. She paused after backing into the street to close the garage door, put the car in drive, and reach over to lace her fingers with Max. “I’m glad we don’t have to deal with that.”

“Yeah,” Justin said, in a slightly dazed voice, “guess you don’t have to think about it since Max is already pregnant.”

“Well, yeah,” Kate giggled, reaching over and booping his nose, “sweets… they’re also both girls. Even if Max wasn’t pregnant right now, there wouldn’t be any chance of them getting pregnant.”

“Oh, right,” Justin paused, releasing an embarrassed chuckle while Chloe and Max glanced at each other before bursting into peals of laughter, “I guess I didn’t think of that… Man, that must have been some good shit we smoked.”

The friends continued their teasing and by the time they reached the Albertson’s, Max seemed to be mostly back to normal. The four of them walked into the store together, smiles on their faces. Chloe and Max followed the other couple to the snack aisle, where the watched their two stoned friends trying to decide between chips. While the two of them debated the best chips, Max giggled and walked up behind them, bending and picking up a variety pack that had both kinds of chips they wanted.

“How about these,” The purple haired girl said, laughing. “it’s the best of both worlds.”

“Good idea,” Kate laughed, brushing a lock of pink behind her ears, which she was currently working on gauging. “Let’s get some chips and salsa, too.”

“Hell yeah,” her blond boyfriend responded, pressing a kiss against her cheek as he grabbed a large bottle of salsa.

“Man,” Chloe joked, “I kinda miss how awesome food is when you’re high.”

“Babe,” Max responded, “Why don’t you just do it? It really doesn’t bother me. You don’t have to wait until I’m able to join you.”

“Absolutely not, toots,” Chloe said, moving her hand down to pinch her butt “I want to wait to enjoy it with you. You’re so cute when you’re stoned.”

“Chloe,” Max giggled, smacking her hand away from her bottom, “not in public… and I don’t know how soon it’ll be before I can go back to doing that type of stuff. I uh… Well, I’ve been thinking. I know this baby wasn’t made in a great way, but I’m kind of becoming attached. I look down and can see my stomach growing. I… may wind up wanting to keep it. Would you hate me if I did? Plus, what if I put it up for adoption and the stupid Prescunt’s tried to adopt him or her… or one of Jeffershit’s crazy ass fans.”

“What,” Chloe said, scandalized, “Max… I would _never_ hate you for making that decision. I love you, and if you decided to keep the baby, I would love it, too. It’s part of you and I know we could raise it properly. No Part of you is unlovable.”

“As sweet as this conversation is,” Kate whispered next to them, looking around in worry, “it’s probably best continued in private. I didn’t see anyone following us, but I don’t want your conversation blasted all over the papers. I love you girls!”

“True,” Chloe said, grabbing for Max’s hand and leading her out of the chip aisle. “Does anything sound good to you? Any cravings?”

“hmmm,” Max said thoughtfully, “ooooh, I kind of want a giant dill pickle. I haven’t had one of those in ages.”

“Sure,” the four of them made their way through the store towards the pharmacy area. They stopped to grab a giant jar of pickles before heading over to the family planning department. While Chloe ran over to the aisle with feminine products to grab a package of tampons, Justin and Kate stopped to pick up a couple of packs of condoms before adding a package of yours and mine lubricant to try out. The four of them made their way back towards the register and got in the express line. They had only been in line for a minute when an excited screech sounded behind them.

“Katie,” A young voice yelled, before arms wrapped tightly around the girl’s waist, “Is that you? Why haven’t you come to visit me?”

“Lynn,” Kate said surprised as she turned around to face the other girl. “What are you doing here?”

“Shopping, silly,” The recently turned 11-year-old told her, “with mom, dad and Maggie. Why didn’t you come to Christmas?”

“I couldn’t make it,” she said, shifting awkwardly, not wanting to burst the small girl’s view of their mother. “Did you have a good time?”

“It was okay,” Lynn pouted, “but I missed you. It would have been better if you came. Mommy was in a bad mood, too. I think she was upset you couldn’t come.”

“Lynn,” A male voice said from behind her, as a blond man rounded the corner, a blond woman and teenager trailing behind him, causing Kate to hurry and turn around, “You know better than to run off when I’m not looking. Someone could have taken you!”

“But daddy,” Lynn shouted, with a large pout “I wanted to say hi to Katie!”

“What, Kate’s here,” the man questioned, looking around with a smile on his face before looking back at the small blond, “Where?”

“Right there, Dad,” Lynn said, turning around and grabbing Kate’s arm to wheel her around. Chloe, Max and Justin shared a worried look before they all turned to face him. “See? She dyed her hair pink. Can I dye mine pink, too?”

“Katie,” the man said, voice strangled in shock, “what….”

“Oh, heaven help us,” The older woman ground out, rolling her eyes and moving to pull Lynn away from Kate, “What have you done to yourself? God would never approve of this!”

“Yeah,” Chloe asked, glaring at the woman that was insulting her friend,” How do you think god would feel about you calling your daughter a whore after she was raped? Think he would approve of _that?_ ”

“What,” the blond man looked at Kate’s mother in shock.

“I did no such thing,” the woman said, eyes flashing to look at her husband in worry, “I don’t know why she would lie about such a thing.”

“Excuse me, _Karen,”_ Max cut in, “but you were on speakerphone when you told her that she must have advertised that she wanted it. You also said something along the lines of her having slept with two boys in one night was disgusting and that you were ashamed of her.”

“First off, my name isn’t Karen. It’s Celeste,” Kate’s mom said with a glare and an eye roll, “Secondly, you’re lying. I would expect nothing more than that from a teenager that gets themselves knocked up. You’re a _fornicator_ and clearly a horrible influence on my daughter.”

“She isn’t lying, Karen,” Kate snapped, glaring at her mother, “Max, Chloe, _and_ _I_ were there for that particular conversation. You just don’t want dad to know how evil you are. By the way, she was another one of their victims. She didn’t choose to have sex with either of them.”

“I’m in a relationship with Chloe, Karen,” Max said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring darkly at the woman, “Trust me, I was NOT a willing participant in anything.”

“I said my name is Celeste,” the woman huffed, “and now you have my Katie hanging out with lesbians. I have never been so ashamed of you.”

“Too bad for you, I’ve been really ashamed of you for the past several months,” Kate told her, “I know the feeling well. It’s such a bummer that I had to experience you in my life. I would have been better off being raised by a fucking serial killer.”

“How dare you speak to me that way, you dirty little slut,” Celeste growled, reaching out and grasping Kate’s arm to pull her face to face with her, “You need to repent, or you’re going to go to hell. I have half a mind to drag you home and wash more mouth out with soap.”

“Leg go,” Kate yelled, trying to tug her arm free as the woman dug her nails in harshly, “You’re hurting me! Get the fuck off me, bitch!”

Before anyone could react to that, the woman reeled back and smacked her in the mouth, before grabbing her jacket and pulling her close to get back in her face. She took a deep breath through her nose and opened her mouth to speak before freezing and sniffing the air around Kate, even as Chloe and Justin raced forward to pull Kate from her grasp.

“Are you doing drugs,” The woman screeched, shaking Kate by her shirt, “You smell like the marijuana cigarettes! You disgust me! First you go whoring around with multiple men, then you mutilate yourself with those disgusting holes in your face, now you’re calling me a bitch and doing drugs!”

“Get off of my girlfriend, lady,” Justin shouted, working with Chloe to release the mothers grasp and insert himself between the crazed woman and his girlfriend. “you’re a fucking nutjob, Karen!”

“Excuse me,” Celeste questioned in horror, “ _you’re_ in a relationship with my daughter. Peter, you have to do something! Our daughter is dating a disgusting hippy! … and my name is NOT KAREN!”

“Celeste,” Peter cut in pulling her away from the young couple, “I think you need to go out to the car and cool down. I’m going to talk to Kate and get to the bottom of this.”

“Peter,” Celeste said, brows furrowing in annoyance, “Don’t you see what she’s doing? She’s turned to the devil and is trying to drive a wedge between us. You promised when you married me that you would honor me until death do us part!”

“Celeste! Please, go outside. We’re causing a scene. Baby, why didn’t you tell me what happened with your mom?”,” Peter asked, looking at Kate with a deep sadness.

“I was afraid,” Kate said, as tears filled her eyes and she averted her gaze, “I couldn’t take both of my parents calling me a whore or saying that it must have been my fault I was raped.”

“I never called you a whore,” Celeste screamed, trying to get back in the girl’s face, but being blocked by Justin and Chloe and restrained by Peter. The woman’s eyes zeroed in on the cart, catching sight of the items within and pulling out the package of condoms and bottle of lubricant, lifting them above her head and shaking them in victory. “You’re having sex, aren’t you? Those dykes wouldn’t need these! You were supposed to stay a virgin until marriage! First you sleep with your teacher and classmate, now you’re spreading your legs for _that boy._ ”

“Mom,” Maggie yelled out in horror, “You literally just said she was _whoring around with multiple men_. Do you not realize that we can hear every word you’re saying to her? You can’t say something like that in front of us and expect us to believe you when you say you never said that before. What is the matter with you?”

“Nothing is the matter with me,” Celeste screamed out, whirling around to face Maggie, as some police officers made their way over toward them. Max quietly groaned as she realized the store manager must have contacted them. “I just find it shameful that she didn’t wait until her wedding night. Virginity is the most important gift you can give your spouse on your wedding night. She should have waited! A good Christian waits until marriage!”

“Celeste,” Peter groaned, horror on his face and tears in his eyes as he appeared unable to speak. The woman sent him a glare before turning back to face the teenagers blocking Kate from her view.

“A good Christian waits,” Celeste cried out, “It breaks my heart that you chose to ruin your virginity.”

“The virginity ship sailed when I was drugged and raped,” Kate shouted, moving around Justin and Chloe and getting close to her, “and you know what? I am having sex with Justin, and it’s fucking fantastic… and yes, we smoked some weed earlier… I find it relaxing and it makes the sex even better! Guess what, Karen, not only have I mutilated my face by putting piercings in it, I have 3 tattoos and plans for more. I told you back in November that I never wanted to talk to you again, so get the fuck out of my life and leave me alone!”

“What is going on here,” Officer Sperry asked sternly, eyes narrowed in annoyance until they landed on Kate, “Kate? Is everything okay?”

Kate turned to look at Officer Sperry gratefully. She knew that the woman really cared about her work and would do anything to make someone feel comfortable. As she started informing the officer of her mother’s words and actions, the reality of it built back up within her and tears began streaming down her face. When she showed the officer the bruises around her forearm and the tiny crescent shaped cuts from her mother’s nails and the red mark from where the woman had smacked her in the face, the officer had gotten angry, quickly asking Kate if she would like to press charges. The pink haired girl discussed it briefly with her friends, before deciding it was a valid idea. As the officer was placing Celeste in handcuffs, she was suggesting to Kate that she request a restraining order to keep the woman away from her in the future. As the woman was dragged out of the building, she continued to scream horrible things about Kate.

“Kate,” Peter said, walking up to her warily, as if he were approaching a scared animal, “Will you please talk to me?”

“I can’t right now,” Kate told him sadly with an awkward shift, “If you want to come over to our place this weekend, I’ll talk to you there. I don’t want to discuss this stuff in public… but Celeste is NOT welcome in my home and I would prefer if she didn’t know where I live.”

“You mean your dorm room,” Peter asked, looking at her confused.

“No. I live in a house with Chloe, Max and our friend Rachel,” Kate told him, shaking her head in the negative, “We moved there in November. I’ll text you the address tomorrow. We really need to get going.”

“Okay,” Peter said, moving forward and pulling her into an awkward hug, “I’ll see you on Saturday, then.”

The group of four finally unloaded their cart onto the conveyer belt, standing there awkwardly as the cashier looked at them with wide eyes until Chloe started glaring at the woman pointedly until she started scanning more quickly. The friends hurried from the store, releasing sighs of relief as they climbed into the car before making their way to the gas station. Justin and Kate had decided to stay in the car to wait for the couple, while Chloe and Max ran in to take a picture together and wasted a few minutes before eventually heading back out to the car where they could see the other couple snuggled up together in the back seat.

“That took longer than I thought it would,” Rachel said, looking up at them from the couch and spotting Kate’s splotchy face. “What happened?”

“We ran in to my family,” Kate muttered, sitting down on the loveseat heavily. “Mother is just as much of a bitch as I remember, but my dad and sisters are going to come talk to me this weekend.”

“I’m sorry,” Rachel said, getting up to join her on the loveseat and pulling her into a hug, “Are you okay?”

“I will be,” Kate sighed sadly, “I just need to focus on something else for a bit.”

“I know this probably isn’t what you had in mind, but I did talk to my dad,” Rachel stated, “He said we could try to sue the tabloid, but that they have an excellent team of lawyers, so it could be hard to win a case against them.”

“I think we should at least try,” Kate said with irritation, “We don’t need any more bullshit in our lives. Maybe we should talk to Victoria about it at school and see if she would want to join us in a suit against them.”

“That would probably be a good idea,” Rachel responded, “and her parents hold quite a bit of clout. It could help us if we had them on our side.”

“Let’s think about winning the lottery tomorrow,” Max said, as she showed them the picture of her and Chloe pressing their lips together in the gas station. “I know the jackpot is up over $100,000,000. Even split between the four us, that’s a lot of money.”

“Splitting it between us,” Kate asked, looking at the girl in surprise, “How would that work?”

“I figure we split it 4 ways, and each of us takes home 25,000,000 minus taxes,” Max informed her, smiling weakly.

“You’re the one doing the work to get it,” Kate said, looking at her in awe. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Absolutely,” Max said, “You’re all my best friends and I want to split it.”

The next day after they all got home from school, even Chloe who was now 2 months into her GED classes, the friends sat there on edge waiting in anticipation for the numbers to be drawn. The group hadn’t gotten the chance to speak with Victoria, as she had had the morning off for a doctors appointment, and none of them had any classes with her in the afternoons. All of them were too excited to cook, so they wound up getting delivery and pigging out in front of the TV until the numbers were drawn later. As soon as they popped up, Max started repeating them in her head. _11,21,23,35,64, powerball 10. 11,21,23,35,64, powerball 10. 11,21,23,35,64, powerball 10._ She repeated it over and over until she was sure that she had it down, and pulled the photo towards her, looking up at her friends with a wide grin before focusing in on the picture, feeling the time bend around her and the light from the flash briefly blinding her. When her vision cleared, she saw she was back in the gas station and turned to look at Chloe.

“It’s time,” Max said, grabbing Chloe’s hand and dragging her up to the counter. The clerk gave them a questioning look as she noticed their empty hands. “Hi! I’d like to purchase a ticket for the Mega Millions, but I wanted to pick my own numbers, no quickdraw.”

“Okay,” the attendant said with a bored tone in her voice, “ID, please?”

“Right,” Max said, pulling out her card and showing her.

“It’s empty pretty empty in here,” she stated, “I can just punch them in for you. What numbers did you want?”

“Sure. Hmmm,” Max pretended to think, “11, 21, 23, 35, 64, and I think for the Powerball I’ll choose 10.”

“Okay,” She stated, before repeating the numbers back to her and pressing print when they were confirmed and handing the slip to her, which she folded neatly and placed in her wallet. “Good luck, hon.”

“Thanks,” Max chirped, as she felt the photo begin to fade around her and allowed it to play out the rest of the way. When she opened her eyes, she was sitting back in the living room with her friends as they gaped between the lottery slip Chloe was clutching and the screen in awe.

“Holy shit,” Rachel whispered excitedly, “We’re fucking millionaires! What do we do now?”

“I think we have to claim it,” Max said, shifting uncertainly, “I’m not entirely sure how to do that, though. Should we get into contact with a lawyer?”

“Let me call my dad,” Rachel said, as she pulled out her phone while shaking her head. “Hearing from me twice in two days. This is going to surprise him.”

“It seems like you’ve been getting along better,” Chloe said, looking at her as she punched in his number. “What do you think made that change?”

“Don’t pretend you haven’t been getting along with your parents better,” Rachel joked, before sobering up slightly, “Honestly? I think it was learning that I could have died without ever giving him a chance for redemption. I realized that life is short and that it could be a mistake not to leave things in the past.”

“That’s really… mature,” Chloe told her with a smile, “I guess that’s kind of how things happened with David. After what happened with Max and Kate, I saw how much that bothered him. When he helped me with the picture on Max’s phone and called me his daughter, I realized that he actually cared about me. I kinda feel like bad for being such an asshole to him for the first few years of his and mom’s marriage.”

“That’s really… mature,” Rachel joked, shooting at her with her fingers. “shhh, it’s ringing. Dad! Hey, uhhhh. I have a question. If someone were to say… I dunno… win the Mega Millions jackpot, what should their first step be?”

The friends could hear the loud “What” come through the phone speaker and snickered lightly as the voice was once more muffled and unable to be understood. Eventually, Rachel spoke again, going in on the story the group had decided upon.

“Yeah,” Rachel sighed, “My roommates and I went in on a ticket and we just won it all. We already discussed splitting it four ways but didn’t really know how to start. Should we talk to a lawyer?”

The group could hear frantic speaking coming from the other end of the phone for a minute.

“Who were you going to call?” Rachel asked, waiting for his response, “Okay, okay. Call me right back?”

The blond disconnected her call, flipping her hair over her shoulder and looking back up at her friends. The other three girls were seated at the edge of their seats and looking at her in anticipation.

“He’s calling one of his close friends who is a trust and estate attorney,” Rachel told them, “He said that he himself specializes in criminal court, so doesn’t really know to much about this. He told me we should talk to them before we claim any sort of prize.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Max said, looking at the girls around her as they waited for the call.

“Oh, that’s him,” Rachel stated, answering her phone and putting it on speaker, “Dad, you’re on speaker. Did you get a hold of your friend?”

“I did,” James said, voice still cracking in awe, “He wanted to know if you all would be able to go over and meet with him tomorrow. He said that what you’ll need to do is fill out a contract agreeing to split the money evenly, and that he would also like to help you with the tax laws so you can collect as much of the amount as possible.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Kate said, shrugging her shoulders. “I am having my father and sisters over tomorrow evening, but I would be available earlier in the day.”

“None of the rest of us have plans,” Rachel told him, “so we should be able to go whenever. Did he say how much this would cost for us to hire him?”

“He said since we go so far back, he would cut you a deal,” James said, “His firm would normally charge $150,000 for this, but since you’re my family, he would help you for $80,000… so $20,000 each.”

“That’s fine,” Rachel said after the four of them silently communicated with each other.

“Excellent,” James said, “I will call him and let him know, then I’ll text you the firm address and meeting time. Do you… want me to come with you?”

“That could be helpful,” Rachel said after a brief pause. “Thanks.”

“Any time,” he responded, “Love you.”

“You too,” Rachel said as she hung up. “Tomorrow is going to be interesting. Are you guys going to tell your families?”

“I’ll tell dad and my sisters tomorrow,” Kate said, “Since they’re coming over anyway, there is no need for me to call them about it tonight.”

“I’m gonna call my parents,” Chloe said, smirking before pulling out her phone, and dialing her mom on speaker.

“Hey sweetie,” Joyce said as she answered, “It’s a bit later than you usually call me. Is everything okay?”

“Mom. You’re not going to believe this,” Chloe said in faked shock, “Is David there with you?”

“Of course, he is,” Joyce responded, “Why do you ask?”

“Put me on speaker,” Chloe requested, smirking. “did you do it?”

“Yes, you’re on speaker,” Joyce said with a sigh, “What’s going on?”

“Hi David,” Chloe chirped.

“Uh, hey Chloe,” David responded. “are you drunk or something? You never ask to be on speaker.”

“No,” Chloe laughed, sharing a look with Max, “You guys aren’t going to fucking believe this!”

“Can you at least watch your mouth, Chloe,” Joyce asked, and Chloe could feel her rolling her eyes, “What is going on?”

“Mom… David…,” Chloe paused for effect, “we just won the Mega Millions! We’re splitting it between the four of us.”

“Chloe,” Joyce groused, “You called for a joke? I thought it was something serious. You had me worried!”

“No! I _am_ serious,” Chloe said, bouncing in her seat, watching as Max pulled out her phone, took a picture of the ticket, and sent it to her, “Max just sent a picture of the winning ticket. Did you see the winning numbers tonight?”

“We did,” David said, “I picked us up a couple of tickets on my way home.”

“Holy shit,” Joyce’s voice sounded shocked as it came through the speaker on the phone. “You weren’t joking. Oh my god!”

“Let me see,” David requested, as his voice got closer to the phone, “wow… that’s a lot of money. What are you going to do?”

“We’re meeting with a lawyer tomorrow to discuss it,” Chloe said, “look, that’s not the only reason I called. I want to pay off your debt. I know you’ve been struggling financially, and I’ve been a shit the last several years and didn’t help.”

“Chloe,” Joyce breathed, voice thick with emotion, “Honey, we can’t ask you to do that. It’s very sweet of you to offer.”

“I’m not offering,” Chloe said firmly, “I’m doing it. If I have to, I’ll go to your bank and ask to deposit it there myself. You deserve a break. You’ve been through a lot the last 5 years, and I want to help.”

“We accept,” David said, his voice sounded like he was crying.

“David,” Joyce said in astonishment, “We can’t let her do that. It’s her money!”

“She’s as stubborn as a mule,” David said, a touch of fondness in his voice, “You know that better than me. You know there is no talking her out of this.”

“Fine,” Joyce sighed, “but only the bills we’re behind on.”

“Yeah, sure,” Chloe said, looking at Max and mouthing _not happening_ while shaking her head. “Well, I’m gonna get off of here so we can tell Max’s parent’s, too. Love you! Bye!”

“Love you, too,” Joyce and David responded, shock still evident in their voices.

“I can’t believe they thought I was joking,” Chloe chortled, shaking her head.

“Really,” Max said sarcastically, “I’m surprised they eventually believed you. You love pranking people, Che.”

“Uhuh,” She said, bouncing in her seat, “Are you gonna call your parents?”

“Fine,” Max sighed, pulling out her own phone and dialing her parents. Vanessa missed the call, but Ryan answered on the first ring.

“Hey babe,” Ryan said, muting the tv that had been blaring in the background. “everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Max said, while Chloe pulled the phone from her to put it on speaker.

“Hey Ryan,” Chloe said, handing the phone back to the other girl who rolled her eyes at her good naturedly. “Is Vanessa with you? Max tried her first, but she didn’t answer.”

“She’s in the kitchen. Did you need to talk to her,” Ryan asked. Choe could hear him shifting around to get off of the couch.

“Actually,” Max said quickly, “we were wanting to talk to you both.”

“And everything’s fine,” Ryan questioned with worry, “it’s nothing bad? Ness! Max and Chloe are calling us. They said its nothing bad.”

“You sure,” they could hear the woman ask as her husband made his way into the kitchen. “Hey girls. What’s going on?”

“Hey ma,” Max said, shifting awkwardly, “soooo… my roommates and I bought a lottery ticket for the mega millions. We won it all. $107,000,000 and we’re splitting it 4 ways. We have a meeting tomorrow with a lawyer.”

“Really,” Ryan asked, “are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Max sighed, “We looked at the numbers on our slip and the numbers on the screen multiple times.”

“That’s fantastic,” Vanessa yelled, releasing a loud whoop. “Oh, I’m so excited for you girls. Now don’t do anything too crazy with it. You hear stories of lottery winners having to declare bankruptcy because they go crazy.”

“We won’t,” Chloe inserted, “I promise. I’m going to pay off my mom’s bills, but other than that we plan to spend it wisely. I’ll probably put most of mine in savings and live off the interest. Taxes will probably take around half, leaving between 13,000,000 and 15,000,000 depending on the tax rate. Even just a one percent interest rate is $150,000 per year”

“That’s a smart plan,” Ryan said after a brief pause, as the statement filtered through his mind. “I always forget how smart you are. Speaking of smart, how are your GED classes?”

“Surprisingly easy,” Chloe stated, shifting awkwardly, “It was a pretty quick process to get myself back into the way I performed before dad passed. I feel like I could probably take the test and pass tomorrow, but I kind of enjoy going to the classes.”

“That’s good,” Vanessa said, “we’re really proud of you, and thankful that you’re there for our baby. Especially with what she’s been going through since November.”

“I’ll always be here for her,” Chloe vowed, pressing a kiss to her girlfriend’s hairline, “I’m never letting anything come between us again. She makes me a better person. When she wasn’t in my life, I was angry and jaded and kind of a bitch to everyone around me. Well, I guess except Rachel. As soon as I started spending time with Max again, it was like my whole existence got brighter. She bashed through the layers of walls I had up and allowed me to feel happiness again. Without her, I was just a bitter shell of a person. For the first time in years I feel whole.”

“Chloe,” Max breathed, as tears filled her eyes, as she leaned forward to rest her head against the taller girl’s shoulder. She could see Kate and Rachel dabbing at their own eyes with tissues. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“Wow,” Ryan’s voice sounded through the phone, and the group could hear him give a slight sniffle, “I knew you two were serious, but it fills my heart with joy to hear that amount of love for my baby girl. She deserves someone to love her as much as Ness and I do.”

“I do love her,” Chloe said, “Very much so. I mean it honestly when I say she is the greatest thing to ever happen to me.”

“I love you, too,” Max said, moving up to press a few soft kisses against her lips. “even though you just made me cry, you dork. I’m gonna blame the pregnancy hormones.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, brushing her cheek with her thumb, “I didn’t mean for that to get so sappy, but I meant every single word. I hope you know that.”

“I do,” Max replied, pressing another longer kiss to her lips, “and just so we’re clear, you make me whole, too. When I was away from you, I spent most of the time locked away in my room in a deep depression. I haven’t been this happy in years… despite the circumstances of the past few months. I couldn’t do this without you. You are my backbone and my anchor.”

“Will you guys stop being so sappy,” Kate burst in, tears still pooled in her eyes, “You’re killing me over here.”

“I think you’re soulmates,” Rachel said tearily, “and I really hope I find my soulmate someday.”

“I’m sure you will,” Vanessa chimed in over the phone, “Max has really found herself a wonderful group of friends, and I see great things ahead for all of you. We really should get to bed but thank you for updating us on the great news!”

“Night, mom and dad” Max said, eyes starting to look droopy as the excitement of the day caught up with her.

After disconnecting from the call, Rachel looked over at them with a thoughtful look on her face.

“When you eventually get married, I better get to be one of the maids of honor,” She looked at the seriously. “I love you both, so whoever asks first will get me.”

“Rachel,” Chloe joked, “would you do me the honor, of one day… and who knows how near or distant that day may be… being my Maid of Honor.”

“Yes! Yes,” Rachel cried out, “a million times, yes!”

“Kate,” Max said, looking over at her, then pointing to Chloe, “What she said.”

“What she said,” Kate responded, nodding seriously then pointing at Rachel. The four girls paused briefly, before bursting out into giggles. “Alright, as much as I love you all… I’m so fucking tired and I have a long day tomorrow. I’m officially going to introduce Justin to my Dad and sisters and hope they don’t instantly hate him like _she_ did.”

“Justin’s great,” Chloe said, as she slowly stood and tugged Max up behind her, “I think they’ll see how cute you two are together.”

“Yeah,” Kate agreed as she stood, “but they’re also fully aware that I’m sleeping with him, since I literally screamed that out at the supermarket for the whole town to hear. He texted me earlier and told me that one of his mom’s friends must have been there, because she had called him last night and read him the riot act. I just hope they don’t think I’m a whore.”

“You’re not a whore,” Rachel said firmly, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. “If they say anything to make you feel that way, we’ll punt them out the door.”

“I know I’m not,” Kate assured them, “but they’re pretty strict Christians. I don’t think dad’s going to be very… accepting of the things I’ve been doing.”

The four girls eventually made their way up to their bedrooms to get ready for bed. Chloe and Max folded down their blankets and climbed into the center of the bed, Chloe laying on her back, and Max instantly cuddling up to her and resting her head over her heart, while tossing one of her legs over Chloe’s. The blue-haired girl moved her arm around Max and started rubbing softly up and down her back as Max glanced up into her eyes.

“I hope everything goes okay with Kate and her family tomorrow,” Max said quietly, worrying for her friend.

“Me too,” Chloe said, a brief flash of sadness in her eyes, “I don’t think he’ll be as … crazed as her mom is, though.”

“Yeah,” Max responded, “I’m so lucky both of my parents were supportive of me. Can you imagine if they started whining about us being a couple and having sex?”

“That would be awful,” Chloe responded, “though, they may not know we do.”

“What,” Max asked loudly, bursting out into giggles. “Chloe. Are you joking? Of course, they know. We sleep in the same bed! They don’t think we just lay her at night knitting scarves.”

“They could,” Chloe insisted, with a light laugh.

“They don’t,” Max said, “when mom was staying here for a week, she begged me to keep things quiet because she didn’t want the imagery of what we get up to in her head.”

“Oh,” Chloe said, a light blush dusting her cheeks, “I guess that makes sense, just like we wouldn’t want to know about either sets of our parents… er, activities.”

“Mmm, dork,” Max mumbled, tilting her head up to press a kiss to Chloe’s lips, which the other girl instantly intensified by sliding her tongue over Max’s lips to request entry and her hand lowering to grasp at the shorter girls bottom. Max moaned lightly as Chloe’s tongue slipped between her parted lips to start massaging gently against hers. She slid her hand that had been nestled against Chloe’s breast to trail gently down her girlfriend’s torso and abdomen before slipping easily under the waistband of the sweatpants the girl was wearing. Chloe released a moan into Max’s mouth as the small hand started rubbing gently. Max could feel herself becoming more turned on as she continued to pleasure her girlfriend and pulled back from the kiss. _I want to taste her… NOW._ Max moved up onto her other arm to adjust her position, moving to straddle Chloe’s hips briefly before moving beneath the covers and tugging at her pants. Chloe lifted her hips from the bed, as Max pulled off her pants and underwear in one smooth motion. Her girlfriend groaned loudly and reached a hand to grasp at her hair, as Max’s tongue started pressing against her.

“Oh, fuck,” Chloe groaned, tossing her head back to release a slow moan. She could feel Max pause and smirk briefly before continuing with her task. The next several minutes passed by with moans, groans, gasps and Max’s name being repeated over and over until Chloe froze above her, legs tightening around her head briefly. When she was released, she made her way back up to start kissing Chloe, who instantly sucked her tongue into her mouth. Chloe flipped their positions and helped Max to remove her clothing before she started trailing kisses down her body to return the favor. Later, the two of them lay there together naked and slightly panting as they caught their breaths.

“I don’t know why we even bother putting on pajama’s,” Chloe told Max as she moved her hand up to cup her bare breast. “We wind up naked every night, anyways.”

“I doubt our friends would want to see us walking around in the nude,” Max joked while nibbling lightly at Chloe’s ear lobe, “though, I’d love watching you walk around naked all day.”

“Same,” Chloe promised, leering down at her girlfriend. “I never get tired of looking at you. I hope you realize how beautiful you are.”

“Not as beautiful as you,” Max argued, after which Chloe booped her nose.

“I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree,” Chloe said, hiding a yawn behind her hand. “I’m tired. We should probably go to bed. Tomorrow could be a long day. I love you.”

“Love you, too,” Max said, pressing a lingering kiss to Chloe’s lips before settling in for the night. “g’night.”

The next morning did, indeed, seem to drag by. The news that morning was announcing that someone in town had purchased a winning lottery ticket, and the location at which it had been purchased. They met up with James’ lawyer friend, Sebastian, who welcomed them into his office around 8am. They were glad to have James there, as there were multiple times where he had to help clarify information. The redhaired man had eventually produced a stack of paperwork that each of them would need to go through and sign. He had advised them that they should consider speaking with a financial advisor and getting an accountant, that they should change their phone numbers and get a PO box because there would probably be people trying to mail them requests for charities. Lastly, he told them that they should deactivate their social media pages, as it was just inviting people to try and find them. Unfortunately, Oregon wasn’t a state where they could keep their anonymity. He turned the ticket over and had the four of them sign it on the back, and took a picture of them holding it, so they had more proof of it being theirs. Before they left, he told them to contact them when they took care of changing their information, so he could submit their winning lottery ticket.

The four girls made their way to the post office first, knowing that it was going to be closing earlier than anything else. The process was actually a lot quicker than they had expected for it to be. The four of them made their way to Verizon wireless next. After Kate said that she didn’t think her parents would like her changing the number and that Chloe’s phone was a prepaid, the girls decided to start their own plan, Each of them picked out a new phone and were helped with copying their contacts over to their new phones. They had planned on messaging their friends that they trusted with their new phone numbers. Rachel was already on the phone with their lawyer as they left the store, who said he would take care of submitting the information for them.

After they got home, the four of them logged into their different accounts and disabled them. Max and Rachel had contacted their parents with their new phone numbers to let them know that they had gotten new plans, so they could be removed from theirs. The four friends were working together to help get the house cleaned up for Kate’s family. Not that it had really been messy, but they were trying to make it fresh. Justin had showed up an hour and a half before Kate’s family was to arrive to try and help calm her down. She was nervously biting at her nails as she waited for the doorbell to ring. When it finally did, she released a long, nervous sigh and walked to the door. She opened it and saw her dad and peeked around him to search out her sisters.

“Where are Maggie and Lynn,” the pink haired girl asked, a confused frown on her face, “I thought you were all coming.”

“I decided to keep them home,” Peter stated, shifting awkwardly and moving his gaze from her eyes. “Can I come in?”

“Okay,” Kate said, shifting to the side and giving him a strange look. “Why couldn’t the girls come?”

“I wasn’t sure this would be an appropriate conversation for them to be present for,” Peter responded.

“What? Why,” Kate asked while shaking her head, leading him into the living room where her roommates were on the couch and Justin was standing awkwardly by the door waiting for her return. She walked her father over and stood next to Justin, grabbing his hand. “Dad, this is my boyfriend Justin. I had wanted to introduce him to the girls, but I guess that will have to wait until next time.”

“We’ll see,” Peter said, looking at Justin with a disapproving frown, before turning his gaze to the Chloe, Max and Rachel, “That’s part of what I wanted to talk with you about. Can you girls give us some privacy?”

“No,” Kate said, crossing her arms over her chest, “I asked for them to be here.”

“Katie,” Peter sighed, shifting on his feet, “I need to have an important discussion with you. It’s not appropriate to discuss family matters in front of others.”

“They ARE family to me,” Kate said, a cold look growing on her face as she dragged Justin with her and leading him to sit down on the recliner, climbing to sit on his lap and throwing an arm over his shoulder. “Anything you say to me is going to be said to them anyways, so you may as well just sit the fuck down.”

“Kate,” Peter reprimanded, “You do not get to speak to me that way! What has gotten into you? You were never like this before!”

“Gee, I wonder what could have possibly happened,” Kate responded sardonically, rolling her eyes and sharing a look with her roommates.

“Clearly your… friends… are terrible influences. Look what they got you wearing,” Peter said, gesticulating rapidly to her outfit, which she had thought was pretty tame. It was a pair of Rachel’s skintight black jeans, with a lot of holes, and a black tank top and leather jacket, “and your hair. Why would you ruin it like that?”

“What’s wrong with my hair,” Kate asked, sending him a glare.

“If god wanted us to have pink hair, it would be a natural hair color,” Peter said, eyes flashing in annoyance, before releasing a long sigh, “look, I didn’t come here to fight with you. Obviously, I don’t agree that being raped was your fault, but what you’re doing now…”

“What I’m doing now,” Kate repeated, brow furrowed, “what exactly is the problem?”

“You desecrated your body by getting tattoos and piercings,” Peter said, looking at her with disappointment, “and you admitted to doing drugs and having a sexual relationship with that boy. You were raised better than that. Your body is your temple and even though you were raped, you could have prayed for spiritual revirginization. You didn’t have to continue down that road. Sex, drugs… Katie, that isn’t you.”

“Yeah, except, I don’t believe in God anymore,” Kate groused out, “I was devout. If he were real, he wouldn’t have let me become hurt the way I was. Since there isn’t a heaven or hell, I figured I may as well enjoy sex on my own terms. This _is_ me… before I was too scared to be myself. I couldn’t put a toe out of line, or I’d burn in hell. Now I know better.”

“Katie,” Peter cried out, reaching to place a hand on top of hers “Please don’t say that. You’re breaking my heart.”

“I’m not going to pretend to believe in god to make you feel better,” Kate responded, ripping her hand out of his grasp.

“If this is how you’re going to live your life,” Peter said, looking at her sadly, “then I can’t let you see your sisters. You’re no longer a good influence. I’m also going to cut you off. No more groceries or phone. If you think you’re adult enough to make these awful decisions, you’re old enough to pay for your own stuff.”

“I don’t need your money,” Kate responded, storming over to her purse and pulling out her wallet, ripping out her card and flinging it toward him, next she grabbed her old phone and stormed back over to him, dropping it on the ground at his feet, “and here’s the fucking phone. I was going to give it back to you today, anyway. I have my own phone… you can leave, now.”

“Kate,” Peter said sadly, reaching a hand toward her. She stepped out of his reach and glared at him, as his frown deepened. “I’ll pray for you and your soul. Contact me if you ever change your mind.”

“Not gonna happen,” Kate glared, “you can go ahead and leave, now. Enjoy living with a horrible wife. Hope she doesn’t ruin Maggie and Lynn as much as she ruined me.”

“Ka-“

“Get the FUCK OUT and leave me alone,” Kate yelled, running to the front door, and ripping it open while pointing outside. The man sighed and walked past his daughter without so much as a backwards glance. Kate slammed the door behind him, as tears gathered in her eyes. She made her way back into the living room, where her friends were sitting there in an awkward silence. She sat back on Justin’s lap and buried her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder. His arms instantly raised to tighten around her.

“You alright,” Justin asked, as he rubbed at her back. She sniffled and nodded her head without saying a word. “I don’t think I made a very good impression.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Kate snorted, pulling back to look at him with wet eyes. She turned to see her roommates. “I guess I should have let you leave. That must have been really awkward for you.”

“We’re fine,” Max said, giving her a sad look, “I’m sorry that didn’t go well.”

“It’s okay,” Kate responded, sniffling lightly, “I kind of expected it.”

“We should have some people over tonight,” Rachel said, “to help distract you.”

“That could be fun,” Kate said, leaning her head back onto Justin’s shoulder. “Maybe just a couple though? Like Dana and Trevor.”

“I’ll text them,” Rachel told her, as she pulled her phone from her pocket.

Dana and Trevor had showed up within the hour. Everyone but Chloe and Max had gone outside to smoke some pot, not wanting to accidentally hot box the pregnant girl. The group had come back in and started playing a drinking game for the movie ­Dazed and Confused. Max and Chloe were just watching the movie, but everyone else was playing. Unfortunately, there was one where you had to take 2 drinks every time held his nose while speaking, and they ended up getting drunk pretty quickly. Max and Chloe were giggling as they watched their friends play the game. Kate seemed to be in a pretty good mood, and after the movie was over walked over to the stereo and started singing along and dancing to a song called My Medicine by The Pretty Reckless. Justin sat there watching slightly slack jawed as she turned around slowly and seductively stalked back towards him before straddled his lap. She reached down to use the button to start reclining the seat.

“Somebody mixed my medicine, I don’t know what I’m on,” She sang, before leaning down to press their lips together. Justin’s hands lowering to rest on the swell of her bottom, while her hands ran down his front and rested at his belt while their tongues started sliding together.

“Damn, girl,” Dana said, watching her friend make her way across the room before looking at their other friends.

“She’s a good singer,” Trevor slurred, watching as the couple continued making out in front of everyone. “who knew?”

“We did,” Max said, pointing out the girl’s other roommates, “She likes to sing and dance while she’s cooking.”

“She likes to sing rock,” Rachel said, surprising the couple even more, “I haven’t seen her dance quite so… sexy before, though.”

“Uh, you two may want to take this upstairs,” Chloe snickered and threw a pillow, as the two started slowly grinding together on the couch, “We love you guys, but I don’t think any of us want to see you bang.”

The couple slowed their kisses down, and slowly righted the seat. Kate climbed from Justin’s lap and reached her hand down to pull him up after her. The two of them quickly left the room, heading up for Kate’s where they quickly stripped and climbed into her bed to continue their activities. Downstairs the friends turned up the volume on the radio to drown out any noises coming from above them. Eventually everyone else decided to call it a night and made it upstairs to go to bed.


	17. Chapter 17

Hard Reset

Miss Magillicuddy

Chapter 17

AN: Sorry for another long delay! I ended up getting covid and have been super tired the past couple of weeks. I know technically I should have updated The Foster, but I had more ideas for this one. I don’t know if I like this chapter or not, but *shrugs*

* * *

March 21st, 2014

Max shifted awkwardly in her seat, clutching tight to her girlfriend’s hand, as she waited for the nurse to call her back for her 20-week sonogram. She thought back to the previous weekend when her parents had come down from Seattle for a visit. She had asked for Joyce and David to come over so they could join in with her parents for an important conversation.

“So…” Max had stated, pausing before taking a deep sigh to continue, “I’m guessing you’re wondering why I wanted all of you here.”

“This isn’t just to see each other,” Ryan asked, sending a questioning look towards his purple-haired daughter.

“It’s not,” Max confirmed while staring down at her knees. She took another sigh before she looked up into the faces of her family. “I wanted to discuss something with you… something… important.”

“Honey,” Vanessa said, looking at her with a worried frown, “whatever it is, you can tell us. We love you.”

“No matter what,” Ryan agreed.

“Chloe and I have been talking and –“

“You’re not breaking up, are you,” Joyce asked, left hand clutching at her breast, right grabbing at David’s hand, while her eyes went wide.

“What? MOM! As if that’s gonna happen… she’s stuck with me,” Chloe inserted, sending an exasperated look to her girlfriend, “Just let her finish.”

“We’re definitely not breaking up,” Max agreed, squeezing Chloe’s hand, and sharing a love filled look, “I think she’s it for me. Over the past several months I have become attached to the baby. I really didn’t expect it to happen because the conception was so traumatic, but… I have. We have decided that we’re going to keep the baby and raise it together.”

“I know that we’re young,” Chloe said, looking into Joyce’s eyes, “but we love each other, and I think we can do this… especially with your support. We know that Max still has another year of school, but I’ll be done with my GED classes next month. I can take the next year to help with the baby while Max is in school.”

“Then for college, we can do a four-year college and commute to class every day,” Max stated, looking at her and Chloe’s families. “We figure we can pay for daycare, but we were wondering if you wanted to quit working at Two Whales and be a babysitter for us. It’s just… I trust you more than a stranger, so we would be willing to pay you more than what you make hourly at the Two Whales. What do you think? I know it’s a lot to take in. I hope this doesn’t disappoint anyone.”

“Honey,” Ryan breathed, “I’ll support you no matter what. Are you sure this is what you want? It is a life changing decision. I want you to be sure. I think I speak for us all when I say this isn’t something that would disappoint any of us.”

“We’re sure,” Chloe and Max said at the same time, then shared another look.

“We’ve been talking about it pretty seriously for the past month,” Chloe informed the group, “making lists of Pro’s and Con’s, figuring out what to do about school, and the childcare situation. We figure we’ll stay living in Arcadia for a few years, at the least.”

“We talked to Kate and Rachel last night,” Max told them, “They’re pretty excited… probably because we told them we want them to be the baby’s Aunts. They want to help us with the baby as much as they can, too. I think the two of them stayed up most of the night discussing plans for a baby shower.”

“It sounds like you’ve got a good plan and a good support system,” Vanessa told them before bursting into tears and running to pull the two girls into a tight hug. “Sorry! Its just, my baby is going to be a mommy! I’m going to be a grandma! Can I be called Nonnie, like my grandma was?”

“S-sure mom,” Max said, wrapping her arms around her mom and giving her a squeeze. “I hope those aren’t tears of sorrow.”

“They’re not,” Vanessa said, pulling back with a sniffle and grabbing a tissue to dab at her eyes. “I’m so proud of the young ladies you have grown into.”

“I accept,” Joyce said, dabbing at her own suspiciously wet eyes, “the position to help with daycare. It’ll be nice to retire from the Diner. You don’t have to pay me more than what I made there. You already paid off my house and our debts. I’m happy to do it… and I want to be Nana.”

“We’re paying you more,” Max told her firmly while a smirk grew on her face, “and you can’t argue with me. I’m pregnant, my hormones may make me cry if you try arguing with me.”

“She isn’t kidding,” Chloe told them, “she cried at a Charmin commercial the other day.”

“Chloe,” Max cried out in horror, “don’t tell them that. It was emotional. They were all so happy momma bear came through with the best toilet paper. She fought for her cubs! You don’t know what she could have gone through to get it! They’re bears… she probably got shot at just for entering the store!”

“Babe… they’re cartoon bears,” Chloe told her with a giggle, even while Max’s eyes started brimming with tears. The shorter girl looked up at her, and Chloe felt like she got punched in the gut and hurried to placate her, “Of course, I guess there could have been a mad hunter at the store that tried to hunt her.”

“Don’t say that,” Max cried out, before standing and hurrying towards the stairs. “you’re gonna get her killed!”

The rest of them looked at each other in surprise as a door slammed from the level above them. A moment later a door upstairs creaked open and 2 sets of footsteps made their way down. Rachel and Kate slowly rounded the corner, Kate with her arms crossed across her chest and an upset look upon her face.

“What happened,” She asked, eyes set firmly on Max’s parents, “you better have been supportive. She doesn’t need unsupportive people right now.”

“Down, girl,” Chloe said quickly, “I mentioned the Charmin commercial again… it upset her. The ‘Rents were all VERY supportive.”

“Oh…” Kate shifted awkwardly, scowl leaving her face as a light blush dusted her cheeks, “Sorry! Nobody hurts my best friend!”

“It’s okay,” Ryan laughed, waiving a hand as if to brush it off.

“She’s lucky to have friends like you,” David said, having been quietly observing most of the time he was there. “She needs people looking out for her. Might I suggest not letting her see those ASPCA commercials.”

The three roommates winced as one.

“Too late,” Chloe told them, “It took me hours to calm her down and convince her we couldn’t adopt all of the sad animals. I think she snuggled the kitties that night more than she snuggled me! First time in my life I was ever jealous of a cat!”

“Max Caulfield,” A voice called out, pulling her from her memories.

Max looked up to see a smiling nurse standing at the door leading back into the exam rooms. She looked to Chloe who was already standing, turned to her to offer her the hand that wasn’t already in Max’s tight grasp. Max gave Chloe her right hand and she tugged her to her feet, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and moved to walk beside her with an arm around her waist. The two of them casually made their way across the room and greeted the nurse. She led them back towards an exam room, stopping to get Max’s weight. After asking some general questions and checking Max’s blood pressure, the nurse left the room, letting them know that Dr. Hall would be in shortly. After about five minutes a shorter woman walked in, sporting her blond pixie cut.

“Hi Max,” the doctor greeted, sending a soothing smile towards the girl. “How are we all doing since we’ve seen each other last? Anything new or concerning you?”

“We’re good. Chloe and I have actually decided to keep the baby,” Max told the woman, placing a hand over her bump.

“I guess a congratulations is in order for the two of you,” The blond said, shooting a smile to Chloe and a high five to Max. “I know you’re young, but I think if you have a support system you can do it!”

“Thanks! I think I’m starting to feel the baby moving,” Max stated as she rubbed lightly at her stomach. “It feels like I swallowed a butterfly. I guess the only other thing that is new is that Chloe and I are planning on keeping the baby.”

“That’s called quickening,” Dr. Hall said with a light laugh while she flipped through Max’s chart, “I don’t think anyone’s quite described it like swallowing a butterfly before, but I like it! It looks like you’ve gained 10 pounds so far during your pregnancy, which is right about where we want for you to be. Your blood pressure was great.”

Max nodded, as the doctor went over everything. They talked for another 10 minutes, while the doctor put in orders for her to get some more bloodwork at the next appointment. As she was finishing up with the orders, she looked up with a grin.

“If you’re ready, we can go ahead and do the sonogram,” Dr. Hall told her with a grin, “The baby is big enough now that we can do the stomach sonogram, so if you could lift your shirt we can get some jelly on there. Now… I have an important question for you!”

“Sure,” Max said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Do you two want to know the sex of the baby?”

“Absolutely,” Max said, looking to Chloe who was nodding her head excitedly. The blue-haired girl lightly lifted Max’s shirt and guided her back into a comfortable position on the bed. Dr. Hall came over and spread Jelly over her stomach, smiling gently as Max shuddered and gasped at the chill. She flipped on the monitor and picked up the transducer, bringing it up to press lightly against Max’s abdomen. Immediately the sound of the baby’s heartbeat filled the room. Max and Chloe were staring intently at the little monitor as their baby appeared on screen. Dr. Hall was slowly moving the transducer around, while pressing buttons on the keyboard to take pictures. She was explaining that she was checking the baby’s whole body. She gave them a look before moving down.

“You ready for the sex,” She asked again, grinning as she moved it slowly down to get a look between the legs. “Oooh, what a cooperative baby!”

“Yes,” Max said while them started squinting more at the screen to try and get a better look.

“What am I even looking at,” Chloe asked, tilting her head to see if that helped… it didn’t.

“Well,” Dr. Hall started, with a short laugh as she brought up her pointer finger, “this is the torso, these are the two legs, and this is his penis and testicles. He’s putting them right on display”

“It’s a boy,” Chloe said, looking at Max with tears in her eyes, “of course we would have a little exhibitionist!”

Max laughed, even as the tears spilled over, leaving salty trails down her cheeks. She took the tissues the doctor offered them and wiped them off. The 2 of them were looking intently towards the screen, watching as the baby in it moved his tiny limbs, bringing his palm up to his mouth and inserting his thumb.

“Awww,” Max cooed, as she watched the monitor in awe.

Later Max and Chloe were leaving the office, Max clutching the printed pictures to her chest. The two of them were talking cheerily on their way to Chloe’s new truck. Her old one had gone to truck heaven at the end of February. She had started noticing strange popping and knocking sounds coming from her suspension. When she took it to the repair shop, she had been told that her front subframe had deteriorated and there were several missing bushings, which had caused severe damage to the suspension. They had told her they could fix it, but the cost of repairs would have been worth more than what the car was worth. The blue haired girl had decided to send it back to American Rust, and sadly made her way to a car dealership, Rachel and Kate in tow. The two of them had each gotten their own cars. Rachel had picked out a yellow 2014 Camaro convertible while Kate had gotten a white Chevy Volt. Chloe had ended up buying a black 2014 Chevy Silverado with second row seating. It was a gas guzzler, but she liked it anyways. Max sighed as she slowly climbed into the truck. This one was much higher off the ground than Chloe’s old truck and she was still short, so she had to make use of the step bar. Chloe grabbed her hand and helped to haul her up into the truck.

“Do you want to go register for baby stuff,” Chloe asked, as Max made herself comfortable in her seat.

The freckled girl looked up from the photos in her hands and sent a beaming smile at Chloe while nodding. Chloe started her car and slowly backed out of her space, putting the car in drive and heading to Target. The two of them stopped at the Starbucks at the front of the store, Max opting for a drink without caffeine, while Chloe got an extra shot of espresso in her own. They stopped to pick up the UPC gun and headed towards the baby department. They slowly made their way through the section, discussing items that they wanted. Max ended up buying a couple of outfits that she couldn’t resist, one of which had a cute little bear on the butt.

“It’s so cute,” Max gushed as she jammed it into Chloe’s field of vision, “Look at it.”

“Adorable, babe,” Chloe said, sliding her arm down and squeezing Max’s hip. “Little man’s gonna be a stylin!”

“You know it,” Max chirped, tilting her head up to accept a kiss. The two of them walked up to the counter to return the scanner and buy the few outfits Max had found. After paying for the purchases, Chloe led Max back to the truck, opening the door for her and giving her a boost into the cabin.

“You looked like you needed a boost earlier,” Chloe told her, lightly swatting her bottom as she finished getting into the car.

“Chloe,” Max yelped loudly, looking around to see if anyone was around, “someone’s gonna see, you dork!”

“Pfft, no one is watching us,” Chloe smirked before making her way around to the driver’s side of the car. “I couldn’t resist the booty. Ready to head home?”

“Yeah,” Max said, her frown quickly looking mischievous and already pulling out her phone, “Can you stop at Two Whales on the way home? I want a fat bacon cheeseburger… and onion rings!”

“Of course,” Chloe agreed, “Anything for you! That sounds really good actually. I’ll do the same! Do you want to call it in so it’s ready when we get there?”

“Okay,” Max agreed as she began typing in a number. “I’m calling the girls first to see if they want anything!”

“Good idea,” Chloe agreed as she started to fiddle with the radio, making sure to turn the volume down so Max could be heard on the phone. She backed out and started heading towards the restaurant.

“Hey Rach,” Max greeted as the blond roommate answered her phone, “Chloe and I are bringing home Two Whales. Do you want anything?”

“ooooh, yeah,” Rachel responded, “Could you order me a chicken sandwich and fried mushrooms… with ranch dressing for dipping?”

“Sure,” Max stated, “Is Kate with you?”

“She’s upstairs with Justin,” Rachel informed her, “They probably won’t be down for a while. It’s not like you’d even have to ask what she wants. She gets the same thing every time. A grilled porkchop sandwich with pickle and a side salad with Italian dressing. Has she ever ordered something else?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Max joked, rolling her eyes at Chloe good-naturedly. “If they surface from the room, let them know I’m ordering them food. I know I’ve seen Justin chowing down on buffalo wings before. See you in a bit!”

“Later,” Rachel responded, sounding distracted as Max heard the channel’s start flipping as the blond searched for something to watch. Max pulled her phone from her ear and dialed the diner, grin growing on her face as Joyce answered the call.

“Hi Joyce,” She exclaimed as the southern drawl finished speaking, “It’s Max!”

“I know. I recognized your voice, hon,” Joyce snickered, “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” Max told her, “I was just calling to place a to go order.”

“Oh! Go ahead whenever you’re ready,” Joyce responded, pulling her pen from behind her ear and lifting her pad of paper.

“Okay,” Max smiled, “Could I please get 2 bacon cheeseburgers with cheddar cheese and fries, a chicken sandwich and fried mushrooms with ranch to dip, a grilled porkchop with pickle and a side salad with Italian dressing, and 2 pounds of buffalo wings and an order of mozzarella sticks. Can we get some ranch and blue cheese for the wings and marinara for the mozzarella sticks?”

“Yep, anything else,” Joyce asked, waiting for Max’s reply in the negative, “Okay, it’ll be ready in about half an hour.”

“Kay. We’ll probably be there in 15 to 20,” Max responded, “We have something to show you! See ya soon.”

“Bye, hon,” Joyce said, as she hung up the phone.

Joyce was standing behind the counter still when the couple made their way into the restaurant. Max started bouncing as she saw her and made her way over to the counter.

“Joyce,” Max exclaimed as she drew nearer, rolling her eyes at the trucker who growled at her to shut up. “We have pictures of the baby!”

Max was already pushing the sonogram pictures into the blond woman’s waiting hands, as the woman’s eyes eagerly roamed the pictures.

“Aw, look how big the baby has gotten,” Joyce said, cooing lightly as she looked over the photos, “did you find out the sex?”

“I don’t care,” the trucker growled next to Max, sending a glare at her, then Joyce.

“Hush up, Bobby,” Joyce chastised, as she walked around the counter and lead Max away from the irate man, “no one asked you.”

“It’s a boy,” Max told her, as she pointed out the picture, she started explaining it the same way Dr. Hall had showed them earlier. “I bought the cutest little outfit for him.”

“Aw, he’s sucking his thumb in this one,” Joyce cooed, pointing to one of the pictures. “What a little angel.”

“He’s a pretty cute sea monkey,” Chloe joked, peaking over Max’s shoulder to look at the picture. “and we’re going to raise him to be one of the good ones.”

“Yep,” Max agreed, leaning back against Chloe as the girl wrapped her arms around her.

“Well, his future wife will be glad for that,” Joyce said, smiling at the couple.

“Or husband,” Chloe joked, “You never know what way he’ll wind up leaning.”

“True,” Max giggled, “that’s a long way off, though.”

“Order up,” a male voice yelled as a bell dinged. Joyce quickly made her way over and started packing up their food. Max and Chloe slowly meandered back towards the counter, Chloe already pulling out her wallet to grab her debit card. Joyce carefully made her way back towards them, carrying 2 large bags of food, she set it down on the counter and took Chloe’s card to run through the machine. She slid the receipt across the counter for Chloe to sign and headed off to give a trucker at the end of the bar a refill on his soda. Chloe glanced up and smirked as she saw her at the other end and added a $100 tip to the receipt before signing and heading for the door. Chloe shifted both bags to one hand and waved bye with the other as she and Max made their way to the door and Joyce headed back to the register. The couple was halfway out the door by the time a loud “Chloe Elizabeth Price” broke the air. Chloe cackled as they stepped out of the diner and walked towards the car.

“You’re so naughty,” Max joked, sending a wink at her girlfriend.

“Does that mean you have to spank me later,” Chloe joked, winking back, and sending a cheeky grin. Only to yelp as Max landed a smack on her ass. “Oooh, thank you ma’am may I have another?”

“Dork,” Max snorted, as she carefully climbed into the truck, Chloe trying to help her with one hand. Max reached to take the food and set it on the floor by her feet, buckling in as Chloe rounded the truck to climb into the driver side.

“I’m a proud dork,” Chloe said, smiling as she turned the ignition. The two of them were holding hands as they made their way back to the house, conversation flowing lightly between them. By the time they made it back to the house and went inside, Kate and Justin had, indeed, resurfaced from her room. The two of them were snuggled up on the loveseat as a movie played in the background.

“We brough eats,” Max shouted as they headed over to set the food containers down on the coffee table.

“It smells delicious,” Rachel said, as she started rooting through the bags for her food.

“What do I owe ya,” Justin asked, as he separated from Kate and moved to the coffee table to grab their food.

“Don’t worry about it. We got extra wings so anyone can have some if they wanted,” Chloe said, waving him off as she headed for the kitchen, “Anyone want something to drink?”

She returned a few minutes later, handing Max a bottle of water and passing a bottle of beer to each of the other three. She had a bottle of Dr. Pepper for herself. The five of them sat down to start eating their meals. Max was adding pickle and onion to her burger and was searching for packets of Ketchup and Mustard. When she didn’t find any, she hurriedly made her way to the kitchen to pull them from the fridge. She drizzled them onto her burger before passing the condiments off to Chloe. She also grabbed a little container of ranch that she could dip her onion rings in. Max could feel her mouth watering as she lifted the burger to her mouth. She groaned in happiness as she took a large bite.

“That’s the stuff,” she said as she covered her mouth with her hand to speak. She chewed a few more times and swallowed before speaking again, “We got pictures of the jellybean today!”

“Yay,” Kate cheered as she put a bite of salad in her mouth. “Show me after dinner?”

“Of course,” Max agreed, as she dipped an onion ring in ranch and jammed the whole thing in her mouth. “They did a head-to-toe sonogram.”

“Did you find out if it’s a boy or a girl,” Rachel asked, as she wiped a little mayo off the corner of her mouth. “It’ll help Kate and I get the baby shower invites completed.”

“We did,” Chloe smirked, taking a large bite of her burger and not expanding any further.

“Well,” Kate asked, looking at the two of them with excitement in her eyes.

“It’s a boy,” Max told them, smiling as the two girls aw’ed and Justin smiled.

“If you want a nice strong name… I suggest Justin,” Justin joked, sending out a low, mellow laugh.

“We’ll see,” Max said, sharing a smile with Chloe. “we haven’t really discussed names, yet.”

After everyone finished their meals, the group sat together looking at the pictures. Max was pointing out the male bits to the roommates. Rachel had looked at the picture in confusion, asking how the hell anyone could even tell by looking at the blurry photo. Chloe pointed out that someone who did that for a living would know exactly what they were looking for.

“Are you going to register for baby things soon,” Kate asked as she wiggled in excitement.

“We did some of it today,” Max told her while leaning against Chloe, “I got a few cute little outfits. We’re going to look for furniture this weekend sometime, but we’re not putting that stuff on the registry. We plan to get that type of stuff ourselves.”

“Have you thought of a theme of stuff you want to buy,” Rachel asked them, “For the nursery decorations, I mean.”

“I think Maybe a forest and forest animal type of theme,” Max said thoughtfully. Max saw Kate’s eyes widen in inspiration and a smile cross her face.

“That sounds cute,” The pink haired girl gushed, even as she pulled out her phone and started messaging someone. “I bet you could find some really cute stuff with that theme.”

“Who are you texting,” Max asked her suspiciously.

“Oh, its nothing important,” Kate send, sending a wink her way, “It’s a secret.”

The girl’s phone chimed a few minutes later, and she made a light whoop sound, but didn’t say anything when they looked at her in askance. They sat together chatting until almost midnight before Max started yawning consistently, causing Chloe to drag her off to bed. As soon as Kate heard the door close, she looked at Rachel.

“I was texting the landlord,” Kate told her, flipping out her phone and turning the screen so she could see it. “I asked her if she would be okay with me painting a mural on one of the guest room walls, and she said it was fine as long as we repainted before we move out. I think I’m going to paint them a forest scene as a surprise present!”

“That would be a really cute idea,” Rachel agreed, smiling widely, “I can help you with painting… I mean if you leave me an outline or something.”

“Sure,” Kate responded, returning her grin, “I think I’ll draw it out first to plan it, then we can get a couple of people to help us paint it. We can do a doe, because Max loves does, a fox, maybe an owl.”

“A squirrel,” Rachel added, bouncing excitedly.

“a hippie smoking a large doobie,” Justin joked, grunting as Kate lightly elbowed him in the ribs.

“All the baby would have to do is look at Uncle Justin to see that,” Kate teased, lightly patting his cheek, then running her hand down Justin’s chest in a flirtatious way and reaching for his hand. Justin leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, sliding his tongue along the seam of her lips until they parted for him. They jumped apart a few seconds later as a loud moan sounded from upstairs. Justin laughed and stood up to let them know that he was going to run to the bathroom.

“I guess they weren’t going to bed yet,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes lightly. “I need to find someone. I’m in a house full of horny people. All my roommates are constantly going at it like rabbits. Mama needs attention. I mean, attention from someone other than myself. I’m gonna wind up wearing out my vibrator.”

“Rach, this is why I love you,” Kate said while laughing loudly. She sobered up after a minute and looked at the blond more seriously, “Is there anyone you’re interested in right now? Steph? Frank?”

“Steph is pretty hot, but she’s far away. That was a one-time thing,” Rachel responded seriously. “I’m over Frank. I’ll always care about him, but I can’t be with someone who is going to pressure me into anything.”

“I get that,” Kate said, looking with a faint flicker of sadness in her eyes. “I’m sorry he was putting you through that. You didn’t answer my other question, though. Is there anyone you’re into?”

“Well, don’t tell anyone. You know how I said I’ve been wearing out my vibrator?” Rachel asked, looking around her to make sure the two of them were still alone. After Kate’s nod she continued, “I can’t believe I’m about to admit this to someone. I’ve been fantasizing about having a threesome with Dana and Trevor. They’re both so hot, and the couple times I’ve heard them having sex sounds so fun. I also really like them as people. I could totally see myself dating BOTH of them.”

“Wow,” Kate said, eyes wide in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that. Sounds kinky.”

“It does,” Rachel told her, “I haven’t had a threesome before, but the thought of it seriously gets me going.”

The two of them quieted down quickly when they realized Justin was wandering back into the room. Kate noticed a small quirk of a smirk on his lips that gave her pause. She gave him a questioning glance, but he shrugged it off and reached a hand out to grab her own.

“You ready to call it a night,” He asked her, reaching his other hand out to brush a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I’m not tired,” Kate told him, a husky tone entering her voice, “but we can definitely head up to bed. G’night, Rach!”

“Night guys,” Rachel chirped, biting lightly at her lip as she considered the rest of her night. “Fuck it.”

The blond made her way to her feet and climbed the stairs, heading to her bedroom and locking the door behind her. She stripped out of her clothing and walked over to her bed, climbing up and opening her bedside drawer. She dug around, pulling out a bottle of lubricant and a large dildo. She spread the lube over the toy and brought it up between her folds to insert it as she started thinking about the couple she was attracted to.

Rachel was in the middle of the bed, Trevor and Dana on opposite sides of her as they shared a three-way kiss. Each of them had a hand on one of her breasts, Dana pinching at her nipples as Trevor squeezed her breast in his left hand. They broke the kiss and the cheerleader moved to bite and nibble behind Rachel’s earlobe.

“What do you want,” Dana whispered into her hair, running the hand that had been playing with her nipple down to rest upon her mound. Rachel groaned, grounding her hips against the girls hand, letting out a wonton moan and allowing her legs to fall open.

“I want to eat you, while Trevor fucks me from behind… and I don’t want it gentle,” Rachel responded, shuddering as Trevor bent over her to suck her nipple into his mouth, biting lightly then soothing with his tongue. Dana’s fingers were slipping through her folds, rubbing at her clit. She tossed her head back and moaned as both pair’s of hands worshipped her body. She could feel the two of them moving from her and opened her eyes in confusion, only to widen as Trevor grasped her hips and turned her onto her stomach, pulling at her hips to move her onto her knees.

She groaned as she saw Dana moving to lie back against the pillow and spreading her legs in invitation. She crawled forward, kissing her inner thigh until she reached her center. She moved a hand between them, using her fingers to separate Dana’s fold and rushing forward like a starving man. She ran her tongue from her entrance all the way up to her clit and started to suck and run her tongue over the tiny button. Dana’s hand’s scrambled down into her hair and gripped it tightly, grinding herself onto Rachel’s mouth. The slight pain from the hair tugging was a definite turn on, that only got better as she felt Trevor slam into her from behind. He set a quick pace, and the tip of him was angled just so to reach her g-spot.

The three of them were moving furiously together, moans, groans and the sound of skin smacking skin filling the air. Rachel moved her other hand to insert her fingers into the girl writhing around beneath her. She was pumping her finger’s in and out of her, twisting her fingers to add extra sensation. Dana’s moans were becoming louder and louder as she screamed out her name and tugged helplessly at her hair. She could just sense that the other girl was close to her breaking point and she could feel her own orgasm building within her. Trevor was grunting loudly behind her as he crashed forward over and over. She could feel his fingers digging tightly into her hips as he pulled her back to meet him thrust for thrust. Trevor’s thrusts were beginning to become erratic, and she felt one of his hands leave her hip to travel down and rub against her clit.

Dana had started chanting her name, and her moans were becoming louder and longer as she drew closer and closer to her orgasm. Dana was suddenly arching her back off the bed as Rachel licked and sucked at her furiously, fingers pumping in and out of her squeezing channel. The feeling of Dana spasming around her fingers turned her on so much that she went over her own peak and let out a loud moan and a string of yes’s. As her she came, she could feel Trevor burst inside of her, as he road out his own orgasm.

“Fuck,” Rachel croaked, as her back arched off the bed while pumping her toy frantically in and out of herself. She kept moving the toy until she became over sensitized and pulled it from her, moving it to her bedside table and laying back against the pillows as she caught her breath. The blond rolled onto her side and pulled a pillow to snuggle against, falling asleep almost instantly.

**Group Text – Trevor, Dana**

**Justin : 03/22/2014 12:27 AM : Dudes… I just heard Rachel Amber saying she wants 2 have a 3some with u and date u both!**

**Dana: 03/22/2014 12:27 AM: 1st, I am not a dude. 2nd, are you serious?**

**Trevor: 03/22/2014 12:27 AM: wOw. :0**

**Justin: 03/22/2014 12:28 AM: seriously! She said she’s been fantasizing about it and wearing out her vibrator!**

**Dana: 03/22/2014 12:29 AM : Damn… that’s really hot. Trev, you should come up and see me.**

**Trevor: 03/22/2014 12:29 AM: OMW 3===D**

**Dana: 03/22/2014 12:30 AM: Perv. ;p U ever think I just wanna talk about this?**

**Justin: 03/22/2014 12:30 AM: also, don’t mention you heard this from me.**

**Justin: 03/22/2014 12:31AM : hellooooooo**


End file.
